Shenseea Says Dancehall Is Getting More Recognition In The US
Crossover-targeting artist Shenseea is pleased with Dancehall’s current prospects in bigger markets like the United States.
During a recent press run in the United Kingdom, the Rebel artist described recent Billboard entries and reposts from popular US blogs as evidence that the genre is being more recognized.
“I feel like in America, especially, it’s been, like, on a pause for so long,” Shenseea told KISS Fresh. “It’s felt like we had a gap from Sean Paul days til now, and I think that it’s picking back up now where Jamaican records are now crossing over into the US again, so I’m very happy to see that. And, we’re getting more recognition too, like on the big blogs on stuff, so I’m happy.”
Shenseea, who has been exploring other genres since signing with Rvssian’s Rich Immigrants imprint in 2019, relocated to the US following the passing of her mother in 2020. Since then, she has been featured on blogs like The Shaderoom and The Neighbourhood Talk for her music releases and elements of her personal life. Her latest feature on the former was for her appearance at a Carnival road march on Sunday with rapper Coi Leray.
Several Dancehall artists have found favor in the American market since Sean Paul’s ascension in the early 2000s. Gyptian’s Hold Yuh occupied several Billboard charts in 2010. Omi’s Cheerleader went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2015, kicking Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again out the top spot.
The US also embraced Kranium’s Nobody Has to Know (2015) and Charly Black’s Gyal Yuh A Party Animal (2016), evidenced by their RIAA Gold certification. HoodCelebrityy (now Tina) also peaked at No. 22 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop Airplay chart with Walking Trophy in 2018. New-gen acts like Koffee, Teejay, Skillibeng, and Shenseea continue to wave the flag with their own entries on US music charts.
In 2022, Shenseea’s debut album, Alpha, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and sold 63,000 units in the States that year, according to Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate. She’s hoping to drop her sophomore LP this year, which she previously said will host multiple genres.
“I’m thinking about releasing my album this year,” she said. “If it doesn’t get released, then it’s my label’s fault and I must say that straight up, and my teams, so don’t throw me under the buss if it goes sideways… (It’s) more a mixture of what I’ve been exploring and the old ShenYeng that people say they like.”
Shenseea has been feeding fans with more Dancehall music this year following longstanding requests for the “old Shenseea”. Releases have so far included Die For You and Hit & Run with Masicka. Speaking of catering to her “ShenYeng” fanbase, the former Romeich Entertainment bottle service girl said it was her OG label mate Ding Dong who created the name.
“When I just came out and I went with Shenseea, he just came out with Yeng Yeng, the dance with the bikes. So, he was like ‘ShenYeng’ and I said, ‘Why are you merging my name with your song?’… He was like, ‘You shoulda went with the name ShenYeng, you talking bout Shenseea. Shenseea ain’t it, you need to go with ShenYeng’. I said that, you know, it is a pretty cool name.”
She was combing through names for her fanbase at the time and decided on ShenYeng, sealing the deal with the ShenYeng Anthem hit in 2018.
The name has since evolved into an alter ego.
“When you see me deejaying and rapping, doing my freestyles, that’s ShenYeng to me. When you hear Good Comfort, that’s Shenseea. When you hear ShenYeng Anthem, that’s ShenYeng. When you hear Love I Got For You, Shenseea.”