Sean Paul Says Canadian Hip-Hop Going in Right Direction

(andPOP) - Sean Paul Week on andPOP concludes with the dancehall superstar looking at the Canadian urban music scene.

In Canada, hip-hop is a genre that has grown exponentially in the last half decade, but has yet to produce a substantial impact south of the border.

Saukrates, Choclair and Kardinal Offishall have all had American distribution deals, and k-os earned a Source Award for best international album, but rampant international success is still foreign to these artists.

Sean Paul, who has family living in Canada and who has toured the country several times, says it's just a matter of time before Americans start hearing more Canadian hip-hop on their radios.

"I think a lot of people in the Canadian industry, sometimes they feel that sense of doubt from people on the American side because there's not been much people to blow up from that industry," he says.

Paul has several connections to the urban scene in Canada, and appeared on one of the most played Canadian hip-hop songs of all time, "Money Jane," which also featured Kardinal, Jully Black, and the now defunct Baby Blue Soundcrew.

"Canada on a whole is a place that's culture is diverse and mixed up so sometimes its own hip-hop culture kind of takes a backseat and different music such as the hip-hop from America and dancehall and soca music infiltrated the [Canadian] hip-hop game," he says.

Kardinal just released his long-awaited "Fire and Glory" album in Canada and hopes to soon release the project in the U.S.

"Kardinal is a hard working dude and I wish him all the best," says Paul. "There's someone who I work with in Atlantic [Records] who's one of his people in his camp, Mr. Morgan. Mr. Morgan is working hard and so is Kardinal and I'm sure he'll be able to break through."