Shenseea and Vybz Kartel are back on a record together, and fans won’t have to wait long to hear it. The dancehall deejay confirmed on Instagram today that her new EP, Catalyst, lands this Friday, with a track called “Talk To Me” featuring the Worl’ Boss among its eight songs.
The announcement went out to her 9.6 million followers on Monday, November 2, which puts the release on November 6.
Alongside the Kartel collaboration, she also flagged a song titled “Vulnerability,” a name that hints at something more personal than the club records she’s usually associated with.
The Kartel pairing is the detail that will get people talking. Shenseea’s early rise was tied to “Loodi,” her 2016 collaboration with him, so a new duet brings things full circle nearly a decade later.
Kartel’s own situation has changed a lot since then. He walked free in July 2024 after the Privy Council quashed his murder conviction and Jamaica’s Court of Appeal declined to order a retrial, and he has been steadily reasserting himself on the scene ever since. A feature from him now carries a different weight than it would have a few years back.
Catalyst arrives as the follow-up to Never Gets Late Here, Shenseea’s 2024 sophomore album. That record came after her 2022 debut Alpha, which showed her pushing toward a global crossover between pop and dancehall.
The choice of an EP rather than another full length project is an interesting one. Eight tracks gives her room to show range without the weight of a major album cycle, and the title Catalyst suggests she sees this as a turning point rather than a stopgap.
There are two ways to read the early tracklist teasers. One camp of fans will hear “Talk To Me” with Kartel as a nod to her roots and her core dancehall audience back home in Jamaica.
Others will lean toward “Vulnerability” as a sign she’s ready to open up in ways her earlier hits rarely did. Both readings can be true at once, and the balance between them will probably shape how the project lands.
Shenseea, born Chinsea Lee, has spent years straddling different worlds. She appeared on Kanye West’s Donda in 2021 and has worked across hip hop and pop while keeping one foot planted firmly in dancehall.
So far, only two of the eight songs have been named publicly. With Friday just days away, the rest of the tracklist and any other guest appearances are the next thing fans will be watching for.
