Di Genius Says A Shenseea, Jada Kingdom Collab Would Be “Amazing”
As Dancehall artists war over ‘top ranking’ status at home, they stand to miss out on collective success abroad, says producer Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor.
During a recent interview with Donovan Watkis, Di Genius was asked to choose between the one-time rivals Shenseea and Jada Kingdom. “Out of the two, who is more talented and who do you enjoy working with more,” Watkis queried.
Di Genius, who co-produced Shenseea’s Blessed (2019) with Tyga, Major Moves (2019) with Ne-Yo, Run Run (2021), and Jada Kingdom’s recently released GPP, Dickmatized, Next Time and her upcoming John Legend collab Speak In Tongues, declined to place one artist over the other.
“From the outside looking in it’s ‘oh, it’s two Dancehall artists,’ but it’s two completely different artists. The two a them have different strengths,” he said.
He asserted that Dancehall culture needs to look beyond the “either/or” mentality because “it a beat we bad right now.”
The producer also noted that when artists compete instead of uniting, Dancehall’s crossover momentum slows.
“The reality is this. Our culture is huge, but the music itself is so small that no one person can’t carry it at any given time. But because Jamaican culture, we have a either/or..it’s either Bounty or Beenie, or it’s either Shenseea or Jada, it’s either Sean Paul or Shaggy, there’s always that thing,” he said.
“That competition nice fi wi inna Jamaica,” he said, before later adding that “it’s a battle fi break through in the bigger market by relying on one person.”
Di Genius later cited the U.S. music industry as a model to strive towards, where even the biggest acts tend to collaborate and tour together because “they understand the whole business and it helps push the industry.”
He also referenced Nigeria’s Afrobeats artists, who are currently enjoying a rising tide of global success.
“Wizkid did have a big hit and then him bring in more people. Him and Burna Boy did collab and now Burna a collab with Popcaan. It’s this continuous thing.”
Later, Watkis asked, “So you’d put [Jada and Shenseea] on one song?”
Di Genius replied, “Yeah. That woulda be amazing.”
“That’s something I’d definitely do. I mean, it’s two artists that I love and two super-talented people.”
The push for unity has gained traction among Dancehall’s flagbearers in recent years.
In 2021, Spice told Revolt TV that “one of the best ways to get the respect we deserve is how I started off my album, which is coming together. Together, we are a force to be reckoned with.”
Similarly, Sean Paul bore that philosophy out on his feature-heavy 2021 LP Live N Livin’.
“Dancehall can be stereotyped as a competitive, macho space where sound clashes are king, but Live N Livin set out to emphasise what’s possible when unity is the goal,” Paul said earlier this year.
“We don’t need to divide our fans to attain the rotations on the airwaves or streams. I hold this album very dear to my heart because it shows the effort of collaboration over confrontation.”
Watch Di Genius’ full interview below on World Music Views.