SEAN PAUL Vinyl Records and CDs

Hip-hop has always taken inspiration from Dancehall -- thanks to New York'ssizeable Jamaican population -- and collaborations between the twocommunities have been increasing. But it took Dancehall newcomer Sean Paulto finally close the gap. After a series of collaborations with such artistsas Jay-Z and DMX, Paul's long-awaited sophomore album Dutty Rockburned up clubs all over the world with its stellar combination of grit,glitz and girl-talk. Culturally mongrel, Paul is something of an anomaly inthe Dancehall world: he's the well-educated son of a Portuguese-Jamaicanfather and a Chinese-Jamaican mother (a well-known Jamaican artist). He waseven a top athlete before abandoning water polo for the microphone. We'reglad he did. It may not be the deepest lyricism you'll ever encounter, butPaul's mic control is masterful, and as track-swollen as it is, "Dutty Rock"does indeed rock from start to finish.