Why Ishawna Rarely Posts Her Performances

She’s an established dancehall artist, but Ishawna’s social media accounts primarily highlight her luxurious, soft life.

The Need Love singer is intentional about her online aesthetic, revealing on Saturday why she rarely posts herself in artist mode. “I rarely post my performances because they be trying to steal my personality,” Ishawna captioned a performance clip. “But there can only be 1 Ishy…some gal 🐱 Itchy!!!”

She was blazing up a stage in Negril, Westmoreland, while singing Everybody Need Someone, treating drooling fans to slow whines in a daring outfit. As standard for Ishawna’s performances, the crowd was enlivened not only because of her fun catalogue, but wild commentary and engaging preludes.

“The intro seh ‘breed under this’, right? But you see right now ladies, mi nuh know bout a next girl, but you see this Christmas, baby nah wear this Christmas,” the provocateur said before listing lace wigs and doll physiques as preferred trends for the holiday season. 

Ishawna returned to the stage last year after a two-year hiatus, which saw her focusing on recording music. 

“I’ve been working for years straight and I just felt like I wanted a chance to slow down and just have that freedom to record, and that’s what 2020 did for me,” she told The Gleaner.

“I just didn’t want to rush my process and I just feel when you know (it’s time to return to performing), you just know, so, for me, it was just a feeling. I started feeling excited again. Of course, every time I record a new song in the studio I was excited, but I just knew it wasn’t the right time, but now I felt like it was the right time.”

Though the Restraining Order singer is reserved about sharing her live sets due to potential copycats, she’s ironically been accused of ripping off the styles of other artists. 

In 2020, Ce’Cile said Ishawna’s artist model was deliberately created to mimic hers. Her claim came during an appearance on Magnum Spice it Up where she spoke about receiving backlash for her 2003 fellatio-themed tune Do It to Me Baby. Ce’Cile’s remark came after deejay Spice said that Ishawna’s 2017 Equal Rights hit wasn’t the first time dancehall hinted at men going down on women. 

“No, but, didn’t you know that that was just based off Ce’Cile? Because is Skatta do dat,” Ce’Cile said. “Who is my business partner? You can ask Skatta; that is Ce’Cile model given to another artist – that’s what he did. You can ask him, he’ll tell you, so, it was just a regurgitation.”

Ishawna worked alongside producer Skatta Burrell at Downsound Records where she was signed until 2016.

Deejay Danielle D.I. also labelled Ishawna a copycat during their feud six years ago.

“This specific person, for years now, has been maliciously over and over saying stuff about me, trying to copy my style…” the Brown Girl in the Ring artist said in an Onstage interview. “Wanna deejay like Danielle, I want an outfit like Danielle, I want to go to the same hairdressers that Danielle goes to, so, this person has wanted to be me throughout their whole career move.”

Danielle D.I. decided to address it in a song which kickstarted a lyrical back and forth between the two, taking jabs at each other’s relationships, finances and mothers.

Despite the dead ringer allegations, Ishawna has cultivated a loyal following that she steadily feeds with new material, the last being Billionaire released three months ago.