Shenseea is undoubtedly taking the international community by storm with her talent and sensual dance moves. However, it seems not all favor the songstress’ talent and sex appeal.
That is being reflected in what appears to be a standoff between the “Blessed” singer and the authorities in The Bahamas with regards to an upcoming concert planned for March 19. To date, the show remains in limbo even as the organizers of the event are trying to get the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness onboard. There is now some concern that the concert planned for the National Stadium in Nassau will be canceled.
On the surface, it seems that the authorities are wary about whether or not those in attendance will breach Covid-19 protocols. According to at least one recent letter to the editor of the Tribune newspaper in The Bahamas, there seems to be something more to the calls for Shenseea to be banned.
The letter was quoted by the Jamaica Observer, and an excerpt from it reads as follows:
“Shenseea’s main message is the sexual objectification of women. The PLP Government must understand that allowing Shenseea to perform her lewd acts on stage would undermine its message that it is opposed to all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls. The PLP Government should simply outright ban Shenseea from performing in The Bahamas. Send the message to these Bahamian promoters and foreign entertainers that this country will not tolerate the public degrading of our women and girls.”
While it is just one letter to the editor, it could reflect how some Bahamians think about Shenseea, though she has never advocated any type of violence towards women. The letter also indicates that the person, who was identified as Kevin Evans from Freeport, Grand Bahama, is pleased that Health Minister Dr. Michael Darville did not give the Bahamian promoters permission to go ahead with the concert.
The letter further stated that the event organizers should follow suit and cancel the concert just as they did for the Dexta Daps event. Evans also described Shenseea as raunchy and goes on to say that in their opinion, she has a “vulgar message, performance and dressing.”
He then criticizes the genre itself by saying that Shenseea is trying to cash in on American listenership and that “The US Constitution in its First Amendment allows for the smut that the dancehall music industry produces without any fear of censorship.”
Meanwhile, the organizers are very confident that they can match the COVID-19 protocols implemented for all major venues. These venues include some hotels on the island that have been granted permission to host major events. Doja Cat has already performed in the Bahamas and seemed to receive little to no objections.
From the organizers’ point of view, hosting major events should not just be for the hotels in the country. One of the concert’s promoters, Raynold Culmer, who is part of the group Guidance, gave his two cents when he appeared in a recent television interview.
He said that they were still hopeful that the show would go on because it was only fair that they get a piece of the entertainment pie. They are also willing to hire more staff to ensure no Covid protocols are broken. He hopes that the Ministry of Health will at least give them an audience before just canceling the show.
The promoters have even suggested distributing COVID-19 tests with each ticket purchase. However, from the looks of it, dancehall may be fighting an uphill battle to get clearance from the Bahamian authorities.
