Shenseea sat down with Apple Music as she spoke about her journey in music and her upcoming debut album ‘Alpha’ which drops next month, almost five years since she first started as an artist.
The 25-year-old said she has grown from just pushing herself, but her expectations with her music are still high, leading her to overthink and work harder.
According to Shenseea, her album is a result of her constantly honing her craft and fine-tuning her style to finally release a product she feels is the best of her ability to fans.
“I’ve been working on the album for a couple years now only because I feel like as the years go by I can make better music and better music and be everything that’s on my album. So I’ve been working on my album and now that I’m finally done I feel like this is the best of the best,” she said.
Shenseea added that despite her growth as an artist, she is still waging a battle in her mind when it comes to wanting to deliver the most impactful work to fans.
“It’s definitely been a different ride only because it’s my mental space. I’ve been thinking is this good enough, is this going to hit the mark, oh ‘I want this song to exceed my expectations, will it not?’ It’s not really pressure when it comes on to making the music, it’s about when I make the music the impact it has, what I want it have, it’s all about is it going to do exactly what I want it to do? And it’s giving me anxiety because I have to wait and see,” she said.
The Jamaican singer has been in full album mode after revealing her March 2022 album release date and title. The artist, however, does put high expectations on her first album despite releasing a large body of work over the past five years.
“For me naturally just making music and working on the album, I feel like I’ve done 5 albums throughout the years because I’ve been dropping music so consistently. It’s like it’s really nothing to make the music, it’s just this is my first album I need it to have the impact I want.”
Shenseea also bared her desire to take over the music scene for 2022.
“I want to hit the charts, I want to be running the charts. I feel that’s my goal for the first half of the year and then just have hits on the Hot 100 and I just want my music to be heard all over the world. My main focus is to get my music out there to everybody. Everything will fall into place after that.”
Shenseea has released a few teasers from her upcoming album, including the song “Lick,” in which she collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion to deliver shocking audio and visual images.
Despite previously stating she was shy, the mother of one said she has grown a lot, and she managed to even have fun with making the song which received mixed reviews from her fans.
“I wanted to go all out. Over the years the confidence built and it grew but I wanted to go out for the video but the heels [were] my biggest enemy cause girl I’ve been falling,” she said, laughing about her “Lick” collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion.
“It feels like this is the moment I’ve been waiting for all my life. You know all the things I’ve been through ever since I was a kid coming up. It’s finally that time and I feel it’s about to hit me and I feel like I’m more ready than ever. I feel like everything happens at the right time because I roll with God and so when he says it’s time, it’s time,” she said.
The dancehall deejay, who started with her non-assuming “Loodie” with Vybz Kartel, which became an instant hit among the teens and her family, also built her Shen-Yengz fan base on feel-good music before transitioning to controversial topics which her family wasn’t always in agreement with.
Among those who have taken issue with her choice of topics are critics online who always drag her deceased mother into their points as they criticize her. Most recently, Minister Marion Hall, formerly Lady Saw, was the latest critic to bring up Shenseea’s mother as she trashed her song “Lick.”
Shenseea says her family has finally grown to accept her choice to make raunchy music. The “Blessed” singer isn’t one to shy away from controversial topics as her catalog has songs ranging from a side chick anthem and the female persona taking the lead in the bedroom. However, “Lick” was out of the range of family members whom she says ran lots of jokes after its release.
“They were saying ‘oh they need condoms for their ears, and I’m like what y’all gon do because at the end of the day I’m an adult now and I make songs for all ages but this specific song is for adults, you feel me? At the end of the day it’s just another side I’m expressing how I feel and how other women feel too. It’s a confident song, a very bold song,” she said.
Shenseea also spoke about getting love and support from her fans, who she said cried at seeing her levels of success.
“It’s like I’m just so blessed to have that strong support system not just from my family and friends but from strangers whom I don’t know at all but I still help them through situations and they help me because sometimes the road does get rocky but then I remember that people out there genuinely love me. Every time I go to a show people are pulling up with gifts, it makes me feel like I’m supposed to be here and I should stay.”
Shenseea says her fans have given her Dior bags, make-up, lotions, lashes, and clothing when they attend her events.
Meanwhile, she also spoke about her 21 Savage collaboration released recently.
“I said ‘yo would you jump on this? because I feel like you would body a verse’. It’s old school catchy and gangster-like but still lovey-dovey it’s like a mixture, he said he would love it because the song is a hit,” she said.
Shenseea also spoke about working with Rvssian, who has been producing for her since she first came on the scene.
“It’s very important not to be running all over the place as an artist because you might really mess your sound up. Not everybody understands you as an artist and how you should sound and what’s best for your voice and how to coach you in ways you can reach notes you did not know you can reach. Rvssian does that for me so I am 100% comfortable,” she said about the Rich Immigrant producer.
Shenseea is presently nominated for four Grammy Awards for work she did on projects that are nominated in different categories.
The deejay says being on ‘Donda’ was not in her wildest contemplation, especially with how quickly things moved from her sending her verse to having songs released within two days on the album.
“That’s a different type of blessing and opportunity that was granted to me. I’m extremely grateful to God and to Kanye because he believed in me. I did not see him or meet him before ‘Donda’…he told me to pop up for the listening party.”
