Shenseea Hails Dancehall Greats In Throwback Clip Of Herself At 19

Shenseea was recently in a nostalgic mood, posting a throwback video where she hailed some Dancehall veterans in a freestyle.

In the clip, posted to her Instagram page, the Blessed singer did her piece on Dave Kelly’s iconic Eighty Five Riddim, letting the world know that Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Sizzla Kalonji, Beenie Man and Ninjaman scored high marks in her book.

“Buju Banton yuh is a well known veteran, ah you seh boom bye if a….” she began as she rode the riddim.

“I really came a long away.. throwback to 19 yr old me bigging up some of the greats who helped to pave the way for my culture🇯🇲 @bujubanton @grunggadzilla @therealsizzlakalonji @kingbeenieman @ninjaman_music,” she wrote.

Beenie Man replied with a heart emoji in the comments, while Bounty Killer wrote, “DIS DID GO HARD SISTER 💯🥳💫”

 Meanwhile, Ninjaman added five fire emojis.

Shen’s co-manager Romeich Major also joined in the trip down memory lane. 

“Me big bad artist star!!!!! Far yah come from enuh ❤️❤️ just proud a you!!!!! 😂😂 did skinny no rass tho lol”

A young Lila Iké and Grammy nominated Reggae artist Blvk H3ro were also seen in the clip vibing to the freestyle. This caught the attention of some fans, who hinted at the growth of all three artists over the years.

“Look how @shenseea @blvkh3ro an @lilaike mature Ina d business an tun star now…inspirational,” said @badas_3rd.

On the other hand, some fans asked the Run Run singer to produce more Dancehall tracks, and give the international genres a break.

“Your lyricism has always been top notch. We do want you to grow but we need you to keep the core of who you are, musically, true!” @camille_22_876 suggested.

“This was when you were in your prime, now you trying hard to separated your self from Jamaican,” @nadine_english_uk protested.

Much to the delight of some fans, the Be Good singer recently declared that she intends to bridge the gap between Dancehall’s past and its future.

“I want to help bridge that gap between Dancehall – where it was, and now,” the 26-year-old told Billboard’s Tetris Kelly, while the two shared a space at the Soho Desert House, following her Coachella debut earlier this month.

Further shedding light on that goal, and with reference to her recently released single, Curious, the 26-year-old explained: “I wanted to bring back a nostalgic feeling with the old school Dancehall and mix it with a modern sound. A lot of people who know about the culture is like ‘Yo, we haven’t heard this sound in a long time,’ and that’s exactly what we were aiming for.”

Out of all the artists that were mentioned in the throwback freestyle video, Shenseea has only so far collaborated with Beenie Man. The pair shared vocals on Henkel Glue, which later formed part of her debut album Alpha in March 2022.