Music Experts Urge Shenseea Not To “Dumb Down” Skills, Authenticity For American Acceptance

The wisdom of Shenseea’s decision to sideline Dancehall music for American Pop was a subject matter at the US Embassy’s Black History/Reggae Month Star-Spangled Sit Down session on Wednesday, as questions arose as to whether she was “dumbing down” her skills to gain acceptance from Americans.

In late January, the 25-year-old announced that the five years she had given herself completely to Dancehall had come to an end and that she would now pursue Pop music, the genre which she has long said was her first love.

But, on Wednesday, during the panel discussion held under the theme The Influence of Jamaican Music on Black American Music, which was steered by media personality Debbie Bissoon, Billboard Magazine’s Patricia Meschino voiced a myriad of concerns about Shenseea’s approach, whom she said appears to be making herself appear shallow, and was dispensing with her ‘Jamaicanness’ to please the powers that be.

Meschino’s comments came after Bissoon asked the panellists, which also included veteran producers/disc jockeys Alric and Boyd, whether the attempts being made by Shenseea to crossover would work in her favour, in light of the fact that she “does not want to be defined as a Dancehall artist, has taken on a different sound, and does not sound Jamaican any more.”

“Shenseea, you know she has such a unique identity within this American music landscape, so why on earth would you want to give that up, renounce that, diminish that, to be just an imitation of something that is already out there in abundance?” Meschino asked.

“Some female deejays within the American landscape getting attention, but right now, she is getting the most attention.  So I would just love to see her capitalize on who she is, embellish who she is and where she comes from and make the best music she can as who she is,” the journalist added.

Ahead of her debut album, Shenseea enlisted American rappers Megan Thee Stallion and 21 Savage for Lick and R U That, respectively.  Lick, a Pop-Soca fusion, peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 after it debuted with a controversial music video and lyrics.

Meschino, who is based in New York, said there was nothing fundamentally wrong with Shenssea as an artist, experimenting with other sounds and genres, but that her Dancehall roots ought not to be disregarded.

“We know she has skills, but it is almost as though she is dumbing down her skills for this acceptance that may never come.  Why would you want to dumb down your talent?  Shine as brightly as you can and part of that shining is to be authentic and be who you are,” she stated.

“Again, you experiment a little bit here and there, sure. Like any artiste wants to do that, sure.  But I feel like somebody is in her ear telling her, ‘you have to do this to succeed, you have to do this to break bigger’.  And I don’t think she has to.  And, there is no guarantee that by doing this, it is going to do it anyway.  So make the best music you can make and that comes through authenticity; that always comes thought authenticity,” she continued.

The Billboard journalist, who has been writing about Caribbean music and culture for the past three decades, referenced Bob Marley via his Could You Be Loved track as a prime example of a Jamaican, who on occasions added flavours of other genres to his music, but never strayed from his roots.

“Go back to Bob Marley.  He had the Could you be Loved, adding his little disco influences, but he never diverted from that path he was on, the kind of spirituality which is so intrinsic to what Reggae music is.  He never diverted from that path.  And he might add-in other things, but he knew who he was and what he wanted to project out there. If he had to take in other ingredients, he would but he would not compromise who he was,” she argued.

“Yes, Shenseea is a different kind of artist, but the bottom line is still to be true to who you are.  Be authentic, bring that to the world…,” she added.

Meschino said that oftentimes, when popular artists are signed to large labels, they are coerced into shedding their true identities, and assume whatever image the label wants to be projected—in many cases, to the detriment of the musicians.

“It’s an ongoing issue with artists over the decades who are signed, in being who they are.  It’s like so compromised and so different from that person and that kind of core identity that they have,” she mused.

“So I agree, she should maintain her ‘Jamaicaness’, because that is what let that shine through.  Whatever experiment she goes into… let that shine through because that is what is so special.  Don’t let people be daunted by your talent.  Let them shine through.  Never dumb down for anybody,” Meschino said.

For his part, Boyd, who along with Alric produced the El Toro! Riddim in 2005, told Bissoon that a “wait and see” approach will have to be taken to determine whether Shenseea succeeds on her new quest, as it is “not something that can be projected”.

“You can’t project that.  But I would say this though, Shenseea, don’t leave yuh roots.  Do not leave your roots, because is yuh roots get yuh there in the first place,” he implored.

He also pointed out that Dancehall’s biggest names including Shaggy, Sean Paul, Lady Saw, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, despite experimenting with other genres always maintained their authentic, hardcore Dancehall profile, and recommended that Shenseea follow their example.

“Lady Saw, when she did her collab with everybody else, she was still Dancehall; Bounty Killa same ting; Beenie Man same ting; Shaggy same ting.  So you are saying you are not Dancehall, who are you influenced by then?  Who is influencing you to make this decision?  If you are not Jamaican anymore, you can just shed yuh Jamaicanness like that and seh ‘OK I am not Jamaican;  I am not Dancehall’.  No.  Dancehall is where yuh come from,” he said.

Alric, who, along with Boyd produced Jill Scott’s 2011 album, The Light of the Sun, said that Lady Saw remains the epitome of a Dancehall artist who has experimented far outside her genre but maintained her Jamaicanness in the No Doubt Grammy-winning classic Underneath it All.

“Nobody has done it further than Lady Saw because she went rock.  She had a tune with No Doubt which was a Grammy-winning tune, but she never left her roots,” Alric said.

Shenseea’s 14 track debut, Alpha, which is slated for release on March 11 via Rich Immigrants/Interscope Records, will feature new collaborations with American rappers Tyga and Offset, as well as Jamaican deejays Beenie Man and Sean Paul.  She will also make her late-night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 3.

Watch the US Embassy’s Star-Spangled Sit-Down session below.