Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Sean Paul, Elephant Man and Lady Saw

The influence of dancehall and reggae music will probably soon surpass any other music.

Bold statement, but Jamaican music is now turning up on just about any and everything to do with entertainment. In this instant, reggae and dancehall are now mainstays of video gamers.

Sean Paul, Lady Saw, Vegas and Beenie Man are all featured on Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Rocks, a game that took racing from tracks to the open urban streets. The soundtrack features Like Glue by Sean Paul, Striptease by Lady Saw, Pull Up by Vegas and Yagga Yo, Dude and Miss L.A.P. by Beenie Man.

"It's always good when our artistes do well internationally. I would say it's a good thing he (Sean Paul) was one of the artistes chosen for the soundtrack," said Jeremy Harding, Sean Paul's manager.

Fight for New York

Sean Paul and Elephant Man are also two of the local artistes featured in Def Jam's Fight for New York soundtrack that has been having good sales around the world.

"Russell Simmons call and seh him want two Jamaican artistes because they have been doing a lot of hip hop. I didn't have a problem with it because it can push di music," Elephant Man said. His songs Signal Di Plane, Pon Di River and Ova Di Wall, as well as Sean Paul's Get Busy are featured on the soundtrack.

"Feel good fi know seh di youts dem all over di world a play a game weh me deh pan. It a sell millions so dat mek me feel even better."

Royalty payments

The fact that the game is doing well on the markets means the 'Energy God' will benefit handsomely in royalty payments. He said he is not sure how much he will collect, but it can only be a win-win situation for the already successful dancehall artiste.

Lady Saw is currently out of the island on a break from performing, but told The Gleaner on a previous occasion that she appreciates the fact that she was approached about having her songs included on Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Rocks.

The Reggae Boyz have not been performing as well as should be expected lately but that does not seem to be an issue with the FIFA 2006 soundtrack. Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley's Welcome To Jamrock is featured on the disc.

So, with the seemingly limitless reach of reggae and dancehall music, it begs the questions: what's next?