"My flow follows sometimes what's going on in the hip-hop industry even though I'm speaking Jamaican patois"
About this Quote
The cleverness is in the split-screen identity he describes. Flow is the currency of rap’s innovation economy: pocket, swing, emphasis, the micro-timing that signals credibility. Jamaican patois is the brand signature: texture, rhythm, attitude, and cultural location. Put together, he’s outlining the exact mechanics of global pop hybridity: you can keep your linguistic DNA while updating the rhythmic chassis.
There’s also a broader cultural context here: early-2000s Caribbean music breaking into U.S. charts, where gatekeeping often demands translation - not just of language, but of structure. Sean Paul’s point is that translation doesn’t have to mean sanding down. He’s talking about how artists survive in a marketplace that rewards familiarity while fetishizing “exotic” flavor. The subtext: I’m not being pulled by hip-hop; I’m choosing to move with it, on my terms, while keeping patois as the irreducible core.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Paul, Sean. (2026, January 11). My flow follows sometimes what's going on in the hip-hop industry even though I'm speaking Jamaican patois. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-flow-follows-sometimes-whats-going-on-in-the-183890/
Chicago Style
Paul, Sean. "My flow follows sometimes what's going on in the hip-hop industry even though I'm speaking Jamaican patois." FixQuotes. January 11, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-flow-follows-sometimes-whats-going-on-in-the-183890/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My flow follows sometimes what's going on in the hip-hop industry even though I'm speaking Jamaican patois." FixQuotes, 11 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-flow-follows-sometimes-whats-going-on-in-the-183890/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.




