From Christian girl to dancehall artiste Shenseea was baptised in the Adventist Church
Believe it or not, Shenseea was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Though she doesn’t describe her upbringing as a strict one, Shenseea revealed that her family was not too pleased about the decision to pursue a dancehall music career. “Almost everybody in my family is baptised. I can count about seven people — or five — who are not,” she told THE STAR. The Jiggle Jiggle deejay herself has taken that bold step into a devout life. “I have been baptised, but I think the moment I did it is the moment I backslide.” She made the decision at 14 years old. However, when it came time to take the plunge, she didn’t feel as supported as fellow church mates. “I didn’t get to feel the type of love that other Christians felt. You know, when somebody’s getting baptised and everybody outta the church would come and go down to the river and all that, I didn’t get that. I went to the river but not many people came! A lot of young children, who were my age, they got that. I didn’t get that, so I just felt seh, yuh know seh ... unu nuh love me innuh. Unu nuh love mi!”, she said laughing.
STRAIGHT TO CHURCH
Shenseea, 21, wasn’t allowed to listen to dancehall music as a youngster, or rather — her home life was so constructed that dancehall music didn’t cross her mind as a point of interest.
“What I watched (on television), it didn’t consist of anything dancehall. I didn’t watch TVJ or anything like that. It was just straight cartoon and overseas channels, or straight to church — so I didn’t know about it much. I just never know about it — so I never think fi go listen it. Until high school.”
Matter of fact, the rising dancehall artiste’s first introduction to music came from taking buses to Half-Way Tree in St Andrew.
“Dem daggering bus deh! That’s when I found out that I could deejay as well,” Shenseea told THE STAR.
“You know my voice, it’s a bit deep — but I’d never tried to sing in it. So when I hear the Kartel dem and the Spice dem and the Aidonia dem — I start sing along with it. And me seh, wait — yes. Mi have this too!”
Regardless of their current disapproval, Shenseea has been making moves in music which seem to be softening the way members of her family view her deviation from the religious path.
“They will hear the dancehall and all that and seh — ‘No sah, ah wah dis?!’ I think they’re starting to get to just accept it now. The reason why they’re starting to accept it is because they haven’t known me when it comes on to music. But then I have a reggae EP coming out soon, so I let them hear some of the material from that and they’re whoa — you really ah hold some serious meds pon dis,” she told THE STAR.