With Shenseea counting down the weeks to her album release, her team is in full promotion mode as they ramp up her visibility on an international level. On Wednesday, Apple Music announced that Shenseea, who they describe as “a global artiste”, will be featured on its Up Next programme, which is a monthly artiste initiative focusing on “identifying, showcasing and elevating rising talent”.
As part of the programme, Shenseea is introduced to her audience via an Apple Music short film which is shot entirely on iPhone. She is interviewed by Apple Music 1 host, Nadeska, about her career and rise in dancehall music; and will appear on a late night TV performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 3. In June 2021, Jamaican artistes Spice, Shaggy and Sean Paul rocked Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a performance of their hit collab, Go Down Deh. Created and hosted by popular comedian Jimmy Kimmel, the show is broadcast on weeknights on ABC.
In the short film, Shenseea introduces herself as “a young mom and a Jamaican” and speaks candidly about her strict Christian upbringing, which prohibited raunchy music, and her mother, whose work ethics as a farmer inspired her. The film, which is shot on location in Jamaica, shows lots of pictures of a young Shenseea with her mother and with her son.
“For me, growing up, I matured at a very young age, just dealing with life and dealing with people in general,” Shenseea says, as she details her family’s response to her having a child at 19.
“The majority of the people in my family were like, ‘Why yuh have a kid now? Why you going to bring a baby now? You don’t have nothing.’ I had $100,000 … that’s like US$1,000 … in my bank account, and I had a kid. And look at me now,” the mother of one said with a smile.
In the interview with Nadeska, the Blessed singer, who drops her debut album, Alpha, on March 11, notes that this is the moment she has been waiting for all her life. Signed to Rich Immigrants/Interscope Records in 2019, Shenseea shared that Rvssian produced most of the tracks and disclosed that she has been working on the album “for a couple years now”.
“I want to hit the charts running,” Shenseea says in response to the host asking about her expectations for Alpha, the 14-song dancehall project which is said to “display Shenseea’s writing, singing and rapping prowess, as well as her affinity for traversing genres”.
According to Apple Music, Shenseea has secured her place as an in-demand rising star. “Revered for her confident, slick-tongued patois rhymes and energetic dancehall hits, Shenseea’s skills as a singer, rapper and songwriter earned stamps of approval from the media and music legends like Funkmaster Flex, Cardi B and Missy Elliott,” the release said.
It quoted Shenseea as saying, “I’m so excited to be chosen as an Apple Music Up Next artiste. Apple Music has always been such a great supporter ever since the release of my US single Blessed and especially now that I am about to release my debut album, Alpha.”
Quizzed about her feature on Kanye West’s Grammy-nominated album, Donda, Shenseea shared, with a laugh, that she “did not see that one coming” and painted a picture of a gracious West.
The Up Next roster of previously featured acts includes a slew of talented acts. Apple Music’s Giovanni Bossio shared that Grammy Award-winning reggae artiste, Koffee, was an Up Next act. Koffee was featured in 2019.