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Despite Grief, Shenseea Delivered At ‘A Taste Of Reggae Sumfest’

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shenseea-1
Shenseea

Dancehall artiste Shenseea’s fans were not left disappointed after her performance on night one of A Taste of Reggae Sumfest a few hours ago. Despite it being her first appearance since laying her mother to rest earlier this month, the 23-year-old did not drop the ball after her fellow Romeich Entertainment camp member Ding Dong raised the energy on stage to a fever pitch.

Shenseea took the stage shortly after 9:30 pm, more than halfway through the show, clad comfortably in butt-length box braids, a fitted long-sleeved white top, orange sweats, and matching Balenciaga sneakers.

She wasted no words in starting her set with her recent hit Trick’a Treat.

“A five months now me nuh perform, me feel good!” the self-proclaimed Dancehall princess exclaimed before transitioning to her independent ladies’ anthem Trending Gyal. She then threw it back to early 2018 with Love I got for U, and without skipping a beat jumped right back into the present with The Sidechick Song.

After fluently delivering the ShenYeng Anthem to her virtual audience, the entertainer paused to deliver a brief, yet emotionally charged message:

“Yuh see sometimes inna life, we take a lot of things for granted, and life is one of them. To just get up and can breathe, fi have life, is such a blessing,” she said.

And with that, she dived into her 2019 international hit Blessed, which she used to close her set on a high. After just over 10 minutes on stage, Shenseea had doubtlessly convinced viewers not only of her resilience during this difficult period but of her undeniable growth since she got her break in 2016.

“This performance a give me goosebumps. So proud of Shenseea 🙏🏽,” one fan Tweeted during the set. Another said “Shenseea really gave a whole performance. I respect her.”

https://twitter.com/zarriatweets/status/1286852760122662912

While some social media users could sense that the artiste was not herself, they were still very supportive.

“Bowy, Shenseea never give har full 100% I coulda feel and see it. That [loss] is still on her. but it’s understandable. She still delivered tho!,” iDwayne93 said.

After leaving the home-based crowd in the capable hands of her colleague TeeJay, Shenseea caught up with Kamila McDonald backstage to share how she was feeling.

“I feel good, I’m in good spirits,” she said. “Virtual or reality, it nuh matter. Me just glad fi perform pon a stage. I missed it. I really looked forward to this performance, and I just went up there and enjoyed myself.”

Later on Twitter, however, she could not hide her obvious pain behind the mask of her music anymore.

“Sometimes I strongly feel running from it helps me the most,” she confessed. “I meant it when I said my heart is truly BROKEN if I succumb to this pain I promise you there will be No More Shenseea!”

She continued: “For all those who’ve told me to cherish the good memories with her, y’all saw how close and connected we were and the good memories are what HURTS the most! It hurts to think about her, hurts to talk about her, hurts to cry! I still can’t fully face this reality…”

Nevertheless, she thanked her fans and her team for their continued support during her bereavement.

Shenseea, who was born Chinsea Lee, lost her mother suddenly in June, after a mild stroke and heart attack. The loss is especially traumatic to the entertainer, as her mother was the only parent she grew up knowing.

Shenseea’s set at A Taste of Reggae Sumfest Night 1 can be viewed below.