KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Before he was a cornrow-braided dancehall star, Sean Paul was a shaven-headed leather-wearer who looked like something out of a B-grade action film. And before he brought dancehall to the mainstream with his 2002 album Dutty Rock and its follow-up The Trinity, he was chiselling a place within the genre as one of its most distinctive voices.
As he reminds us on the re-release of his overlooked 2000 debut, there's a Jamaican fire burning in all of us. Even when we don't know the words to a track like Haffiget de gal Ya (Hot Gal Today), the sentiment is infectious.
At 25 tracks it's too long, and cursed with a never-ending stream of stupid skits but Stage One also reveals a few early gems that resounded well into Paul's career, including Infiltrate, Tiger Bone and Deport Them.
His early work shows he was also well connected, working with riddim kings Lloyd `King Jammy' James, (one of the pioneers of digital dancehall) and Steely & Clevie (old mates of Lee "Scratch" Perry).
And while some tracks sink under the weight of his deadpan monotone, Paul and his production team keep the hooks coming and the tempo upbeat, burning it up on Check it Deeply, Disrespect and Sound the Alarm.
Label: VP Records/Hardwax
Verdict: Dancehall debut just as dutty, mon
