Shenseea joins Interscope roster
Shenseea has signed with American label Interscope Records, the first Jamaican to be signed to that company. The deal was confirmed in an article on billboard.com yesterday.
The video for Blessed, her debut Interscope single featuring rapper Tyga, was also released yesterday. Jamaican Tarik “Rvssian” Johnston produced the song.
Born Chinsea Lee, 22-year-old Shenseea grew up in St Mary, and worked as a promo girl before she was signed to Romeich Entertainment. Her hit songs include Loodie (with Vybz Kartel), Love I Got for You, Shen Yeng Anthem, and Trending Gyal.
She was featured on Christina Aguilera’s 2018 album Liberation, in the song Right Moves.
Among the artistes currently signed to Interscope are singers Ellie Goulding, Sting, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, hip-hop group Rae Sremmurd, The Black Eyed Peas, rappers Juice Wrld, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
Jamaicans have been featured on songs and albums released by artistes signed to Interscope. This year, 44/876 by Sting and Shaggy won Best Reggae Album at the Grammy Awards.
In 2001, No Doubt’s multi-platinum album Rocksteady featured the hit singles Hey Baby (with Bounty Killer) and Underneath it All (with Lady Saw).
Rapper Eminem’s 2018 album, Kamikaze, featured tracks produced by Jamaican producer Matthew “Boi-1da” Samuels.
Samuels also produced two tracks, Maze and Make Believe for rapper Juice Wrld’s 2019 album Death Race for Love, which topped the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. That set also features Ring Ring, which was produced by Johnston.
Interscope Records is owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. It was founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a US$20-million joint venture with Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records.
Iovine served as chairman and CEO until May 2014, when John Janick succeeded him.
In 1992, Interscope acquired exclusive rights to market and distribute releases from gangsta rap label Death Row Records, whose artistes included Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. In 1996, Universal Music Group acquired 50 per cent of the label for a reported US$200 million.
