GUAP 37 : SHENSEEA, THE PRINCESS OF DANCEHALL [@SHENSEEA]

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BY Guest Contributor

August 6, 2024

GUAP 37 : SHENSEEA, THE PRINCESS OF DANCEHALL [@SHENSEEA]

A success story rooted in culture, uplifted by community …

Grammy-nominated, Jamaican native, Shenseea shares with GUAP the captivating adventures of her career, lead by her unmatched talent and vision. She shook up the dancehall scene with her 2016 single “Jiggle Jiggle”, followed by her career defining collaboration with Jamaican legend Vybz Kartel on “Loodi” as a 20 year old, before making major waves in 2018 with her global hit single “Shen Yeng Anthem”.

Her latest release, the sophomore album “Never Gets Late Here”, takes a more global approach to solidifying her as a true force in the industry, seamlessly balancing and switching between a range of beats, sounds and genres.

Djita: Can you share with me what “Never Gets Late Here” means to you and how the title reflects the album’s essence?

Shenseea: On “Never Gets Late Here”, I think it’s a double entendre because that’s where I’m from – in Kingston, Jamaica, it’s almost like the party never stops here. People are always outside. That gave me the idea when it came to the creating and how it’s supposed to look, with nature being involved, the sun, the vegetation- all of that. In terms of the music, I feel like every song on my album is timeless, you can listen to it over and over and over again and it doesn’t get old. So that’s how the name came about. That it never gets late here.

Placing authenticity at the very forefront, Shenseea navigates expressing herself through new genres while still keeping it real with herself and with her fans, by making sure her Jamaican identity remains central to her art. This is how Shenseea makes sure her music never gets boring – the sound never gets old and it ultimately never gets late.

Djita: You’ve also been collaborating with loads of artists like Wizkid, Anitta, Coi Leray and it brings like a quite global flair to your album. How do these collaborations come about? How do you feel like it brings or adds to your music?

She laughs and says “Um… Normally I just hit the artist up, like yea”, in what seemed like a pretty straightforward answer she goes deeper into her artistic process and motivation in choosing her collaborations intentionally. “… and I think it contributes to my music and my career overall by helping me gain new fans, you know? They have their fans and it’s very cool when they put me in their world, and I put them in mine. It’s like a team thing almost.” Her desire in expanding and broadening horizons is clear in her creative process– and it’s all about being versatile and global yet– AUTHENTIC above all.

Hailing from Jamaica, a place with such rich culture and history, Shenseea has made it imperative to her craft that the music always reflect that essential part of who she is, especially through the way she uses her voice.

Djita: Your music is definitely a kaleidoscope of different rhythms and genres, how do you balance maintaining the authenticity of your Jamaican identity while also incorporating mainstream Pop and R&B influences?

Shenseea: I think I do that by not getting rid of my accent. You know, it doesn’t matter what beats I go on or genre I’m exploring in. As long as I still sound like a Jamaican, you know what I mean? It will keep your authenticity alive; any type of music that I’m trying to produce.

Djita: Your music video for “Flava” shows a lot of excitement, brightness and vibrancy of like– the carnival season in Kingston. How important is it for you to showcase Jamaican culture representing it in every thing that you do, and also in your music videos?

Shenseea: I think it’s important. Cause it’s who I am, you know? If I don’t, I think it would be seen as fake, cause like I’m a Jamaican. So why not do things that are Jamaican-like? (laughs) you know? That [things] are embedded in my culture, you know? Like, it’s so important to connect with your roots and I feel like there’s that one point in my life where I feel like I was straying and I had to really reel it in. Cause at that point if I’m not used to everything that’s around me, it gives the sense that I’m losing myself. I never want that to happen to me. And many artists – because we move around so much we need to adapt to the environment. It’s always good to reconnect with your culture and that’s what I did. In this second album, I tried to incorporate every fiber in my being with my culture and what we actually do here [in Jamaica].

What she describes here is a delicate balancing act in her music, which she seemingly does pretty effortlessly, always maintaining her unmistakable accent, voice tones and inflections carried through in songs like “Stars”, an emotional ballad composed by Sam Smith, “Flava” with Coi Leray and even in “Red Flag” with Brazilian artist Anitta.

It’s a known phenomenon that artists often lose their natural accents and adopt a more palatable,
mainstream singing voice to bring their music forward to the global scene. For Shenseea, her voice almost acts as an immovable object in all her music– never divorcing her Jamaican-ness from the different genres she’s creating music in, especially in all the collabs. It’s clear in her lyrics and in her sound, she’s never been one to conform, something which she has communicated so clearly through her debut album “Alpha”.

This album, “Never Gets Late Here”, is yet another reminder that she continues to carve out her own path, unmoved by the status quo.

“I want people to get used to my versatility in a way to know that they will never be bored. They will always be entertained. They will never know what I’m coming with next.”

Djita: Jamaican sound system culture has a really rich history. Can you tell me about your first experience interacting with the sound system, and how it influenced your career?

Shenseea: Um, I would say my personal experiences with the sound system are actually the ones on the school buses. When I used to go to school, 5, 6AM in the morning I would say my morning prayers and as soon as I touched the street it’s like BOOM there’s a whole party at 7 o’clock in the morning. Like you know? (laughs) So I think that started my day, like it gave me so much energy, gave me a vibe to go to school. But they play the music so loud it’s like a party even before I enter school, you know? So that’s my personal experience with sound systems. Because I wasn’t a really big party girl growing up I was like a house rat. My aunty was really strict on me, so the only time I like was exposed to that growing up was on my way to school, in the transportation buses. It was really fun. It was really cool. Um, I think that’s when I learned how to really do dancehall music. I usually sing along with the artists who were playing. And was like oh wait i kinda sound like them, you know? I found that I could DJ, and it made me realise that, you have to listen to music on loudspeakers with good sound to know if it’s gonna hit. People have to feel it. That’s what I learned on the big sound systems.

“I think that the realest stories are the realest experience.” “Those are the ones that hit the hardest. Cause it’s authentic”, this further encapsulates what she hopes to show us in this recent project. She cares about the sonics, the technique, and the approach too, experimenting with different sounds while keeping it real– but also she’s not afraid to showcase her skill to grow beyond the mould some have put her in. Shenseea doesn’t only embrace being a beloved and celebrated Jamaican dancehall artiste, but also aims to become an global superstar, celebrated and recognised internationally. “My aspirations are still the same. To do my singing shows. To win a Grammy, for sure. And just explore what I have in store for myself, you know?”, she says assuredly. And she’s on a roll, for sure.