There is something polarizing, or at a minimum off-putting, about Shenseea. Normally, I would have referred to her as Dancehall artiste Shenseea. But I won’t because she recently announced she no longer wants to be labeled as such. She also shared plans to follow in the steps of her childhood idol Rihanna and pursue Pop music, her “first love.”
This is among the issues critics have with her, many of whom are Jamaicans themselves. Some argue she simply lacks talent, which I’d contend she disproved during her flawless freestyle on Hot 97 Funk Flex in July 2021. Atop the music from fellow Dancehall deejay Skillibeng’s track, “Crocodile Teeth,” Shenseea flawlessly chats, “Nig*as are dogs but my pu*sy is gold / If he get it dat nig*a is a Golden Retriever,” followed by a playful laugh.
However, many believe she lacks the tough edge and sincerity required to genuinely dominate Dancehall. Others believe she's a sellout for collaborating with artists outside of reggae, such as Soca artists Bunji Garlin and Nailah Blackman, Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Tyga, and Megan Thee Stallion, who all appear on "Lick," the lead single from her upcoming debut album ALPHA, which is set to be released on March 11.
Still, the notion that she's stush or boasy because she's "light complexion" or mixed irritates me the most. Chinsea Lee was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and her mother, a Black lady, died unexpectedly in June 2020. Despite the fact that she has never met her father, she earlier admitted to being informed he was a Korean gangster.
Shenseea, on the other hand, doesn't help her critics by telling her 5.2 million Instagram followers that this is why "some Americans don't even fu*k with Caribbean folks 'cuz y'all be actin' foolish as sh*t and that's just the fact." Some of you are as stupid as sh*t." She claimed to speaking with an American accent to make herself more intelligible to her fans in the United States.
