Shenseea can add another accolade to her list of growing accomplishments. She becomes one of the few successful women entertainers from Jamaica who have entries on the British pop charts.
Last Friday, August 12, Shenseea became one of just 20 Jamaican women who have featured on the UK Singles chart since it first began in 1952. She was able to break in on the chart following her feature on Scottish producer Calvin Harris‘ “Obsessed.” Charlie Puth also features on the track that made its debut at 71.
The track is yet another successful one for Harris, whose multi-platinum-selling album Fun Wav Bounces Vol. 2 debuted at five on the UK Album chart.
The first Jamaican woman ever to enter the chart was Millie Small back in 1964 with her cover of Barbie Gaye’s “My Boy Lollipop,” which peaked at number two. She also had two other entries, “Sweet William,” which came in at No. 30, and “Bloodshot Eyes,” which got up to No. 48.
Six years later, another Jamaican woman would break into the charts. Legendary singer Marcia Griffiths’ cover of Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black,” reached No. 5 in 1971.
In 1974, Susan Cadogan got to number four with her rendition of “Hurt So Good,” and her follow-up single, “Love Me Baby,” got to No. 25 a year later.
Five years later, Grace Jones would become one of the most successful on the charts as she first broke in with “Private Life,” which got to No. 17 in 1979. To date, she has 13 entries on the British charts, which is also the most to date. She also had some other successful tracks on the charts in the years that followed. They included “Pull Up to the Bumper” and “Nipple to the Bottle.”
“Uptown Top Ranking” by the duo of Althea and Donna was one of the most successful tracks on the chart and went to number one in January 1978. Then a year later, Sheila Hylton’s take on “Breakfast in Bed” came in No. 57. She enjoyed even more success with her rendition of “The Bed’s too Big,” which came in at No. 35 in the UK chart.
Audrey Hall’s “One Dance” got to No. 20 in 1985, and her track “Smile” got to No. 14 a year later. She would hit the charts again with “The Best Thing for Me,” which got to No. 93.
Another well-known female singer Sophia George got on the chart with “Girlie Girlie,” before the women of modern dancehall came into focus.
Lady Saw has featured on the chart four times. The track “Bossman” with Beenie Man and Sean Paul got to No. 78 in 2003, “Since I Met You Lady” with UB40 got to No. 40 in 2001, “Bump and Grind (I’m Feeling Hot Tonight)” by M-Dubs, which sampled Lady Saw’s “No Long Talking,” also featured at No. 59 in 2000.
She once again featured with “Underneath it All” with No Doubt, which shot to No. 18 in 2002.
Diana King has charted three times with “Shy Guy” (No. 2 in 1995), “Ain’t Nobody” (No. 13 in 1995), and I Say a Little Prayer (No.r 17 in 1997).
Patra also featured with “Worker Man” in 1994, which got to No. 84, and her take on Grace Jones’ “Pull Up to the Bumper” got to No. 50. She once again got on to the chart in 1996 when her feature on “Work Mi Body” by Monkey Mafia got to No. 75.
Ce’Cile also featured with “Gold Dust,” which peaked at 24 in 2010. Just before Shenseea, Spice, along with Tory Lanez, got on to the chart after they were featured on Krept and Konan’s 2019 hit “First Time,” which got to No. 63.
Grammy winner Koffee has three entries so far, including “Toast,” which got to No. 70 in 2018, “W,” featuring Gunna, which got to No. 82 in 2019, and “Repeat” with J Hus, which got to No. 21 in 2020.
Shenseea can now celebrate another prestigious accolade in her career.
