Meditations on power and perseverance from the dancehall star

Shortly after Popcaan’s debut album, Where We Come From, was released in 2014, Drake tapped him to sing on “Controlla”, the Beenie Man-sampling smash from Views that marked a new era for dancehall-pop crossovers. On Forever, the Jamaican artist presents a spiritually minded follow-up that draws on the moody warmth of contemporary hip-hop and R&B. Full of twinkling, buoyant synths (“Deserve It All”) and cheerful lyricism (“Happy Now”, “Strong Woman"), the album is a triumphant view-from-the-top meditation on fame, power and perseverance—concepts he captures most colourfully on “Superstar”. “Where I grew up... it was rough on that side, you know?” he told Beats 1 host Ebro Darden. “But I always knew that I was a star. That’s why I sing that song, because it’s from the hungry days to proper living.”