Tomahawk Technique

Sean said to the music blog Rap-Up that Akon, Stargate, DJ Ammo, Benny Blanco, and Kelly Rowland, would appear on the album.^[2] "There's a broadening of my artistry, I’m working with other producers and artists I’ve never worked with," the Jamaican DJ told Reuters at the recent KIIS FM Jingle Bell Ball in Los Angeles. Tomahawk Technique follows the success of the singer's 2009's record Imperial Blaze. For the new CD, he has teamed up with producers Rico Love, Benny Blanco and Stargate, who have been behind artists such as Katy Perry, Rihanna and Natasha Bedingfield, to work on his new album. "What’s going to surprise fans is that there’s a lot more singing, more high notes that I never used to do before," said Paul, adding "it’s a mixture of pop music into dance music."^[3]

"I’m trying to bridge the gap, broaden my artistry," Sean told Rap-Up TV. "I’m asking [the producers] to try and make dancehall from their perspective. So it’s sounding more international than dancehall."^[4] The album's Japanese version features an upcoming Jamaican singer/songwriter, Zia Benjamin,^[5] as well as a remix of the song "Dream Girl" featuring Japanese artiste, Lecca.

The first single "Got 2 Luv U" features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on 19 July 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song was written by Sean Paul, Ryan Tedder and Stargate, and Stargate produced it.^[6][7] It reached number 1 in Switzerland and the Top 10 in several countries worldwide. "She Doesn't Mind" was released as the second single taken from Tomahawk Technique. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on 29 September 2011 on NRJ & Skyrock (French radios), and to iTunes on 31 October.^[8] Like its predecessor, "She Doesn't Mind" topped the Swiss Singles Chart as well as the Austrian Singles chart and reached top-ten in many other European territories. "Hold On" was released as the third single in February 2012. It reached number 1 in Belgium and number 35 in France. "Dream Girl (remix)" featuring Lecca was released as a single in Japan on 28 March 2012 while in the United States, "How Deep Is Your Love" featuring Kelly Rowland was released as the fifth single on 24 July 2012. The single has so far reached number seventy-two in Switzerland.^[9]

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Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	48/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Guardian	[12]
NME	[1]
Now	[13]

Close

The Guardian editor Paul MacInnes described Tomahawk Technique as a "clash of powerful forces: the irrepressible charm of Sean Paul against the intolerable global pop sound. Who will win: the Jamaican star whose 2003 Dutty Rock album brought dancehall to the charts, or the squealing, amped-up trance that is ubiquitous in 2012, from Rihanna to LMFAO? The head says the latter."^[12] AllMusic critic David Jeffries wroe that Tomahawk Technique "feels like a play for the world with its Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida-styled club tracks, the best of which has to be the slow-stepping "Got 2 Luv U." [...] A couple more true dancehall tracks would have made this feel more natural. Straying far from home, Tomahawk Technique isn't an awful Sean Paul album, but it is an odd one."^[11]

NME's Rebecca Schiller found that "sadly, his creative decline continues on his fifth studio album, Tomahawk Technique, which is – trance'n'b-meddling album lowlight "Touch The Sky" aside – a lacklustre collection of what sounds like pallid versions of previous hits. Missile launch failed."^[1] Anupa Mistry, writing for Now, felt that "it's been sad to see Sean Paul ditch that sexed-up specificity for shameless, sanitized synth pop in the key of, like, everyone else. Past the dancehall signifiers (Paul's increasingly strained lilt and tepid syncopated pulse), the new record is brazenly mediocre. When you’re finished pretending to care, put on Popcaan instead."^[13]

Notes

• " SP's Dutty Rock Decade Megamix by Delta Force" included International Affair, Like Glue, Give It Up To Me, Get Busy, Ever Blazin', Gimme The Light, We Be Burning, Temperature, So Fine, Hold My Hand