It was a star-studded affair at the Jamaican leg of Shenseea’s album launch on Tuesday night at Romeich Entertainment Headquarters in St Andrew.

The event pulled a strong crowd at the Campbell’s Boulevard venue with several Ministers of Government, including Entertainment Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke,  Security Minister Dr Horace Chang and Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton all showing support for the Grammy-nominated artiste.

Fellow artistes Tarrus Riley, Beenie Man and Grammy-winning artiste, Sean Paul were also in attendance.  Also among the celebs was US producer London On Da Track, who is responsible for the single Can’t Anymore on the ALPHA album.

The producer gifted Shenseea a diamond-encrusted necklace in celebration of her debut album.

The support for the Trending Gyal’s debut album, ALPHA was undeniable as those in attendance spoke highly of Shenseea’s first full-length project since getting her break in the industry six years ago.

With tracks from the compilation blaring in the background, politicians and musical colleagues gave the 14-song outfit rave reviews.

Describing ALPHA as a musical representation of the best a local talent has to offer, Minister Grange said despite criticism faced from stepping outside her usual dancehall-flavoured tracks, Shenseea has found her niche and is poised for a massive international takeover.

“She is going to be the next big thing out of Jamaica. Her music will cross over because it’s a great, eclectic mix of dancehall, reggae and new music. She has the right look, she’s sexy, she’s adult-entertainment and there is always room for adult entertainment. We cannot deny that sex sells,” she said.

“Shenseea has found her niche and her niche is cross over, there’s nothing wrong with that,” the Minister of Entertainment and Culture continued. “Music is about building, creating the kind of career and putting out the kind of musical offerings that we as Jamaicans have to give to the world in a way that gets them hooked on our culture.”

Comparing Shenseea’s meteoric rise on the international music circuit to that of Patra and Shabba Ranks, whom she co-managed at the heights of their careers, Grange said Shenseea will continue Jamaica’s rich musical legacy on the overseas market.

“This takes me back to the days when I co-managed Patra and Shabba. We took dancehall into Black America and we were able to excite people about dancehall music so we had to cross over. We really did mix the music, which is exactly what Shenseea is doing now,” she shared. “You can choose to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond and be able to use the world as your stage and that is what success is all about.”

Agreeing with Minister Grange, Downsound Records CEO and Reggae Sumfest boss, Josef Bogdanovich told OBSERVER ONLINE that the ‘Shenyeng’ leader has blown up so much on the international scene over the past year, that a Grammy-nomination and multiple chart success are well within Shenseea’s reach with ALPHA.

“I think the album has done pretty well. She represents a lot of different kinds of genres on this album and she didn’t lose her culture for dancehall music and that’s big. Also, the kind of promotion that’s going on with her in the US, it’s really looking like a ‘Rihanna-situation’ with her,” he said.

He continued: “This album for me is way different from what you normally see in the reggae genre. She’s so close to her roots but still expanding her vision to encompass more and attract more people to what is positive about Jamaica. With that said, I don’t think there is even a question that she’s a Grammy contender, so we’ll see what happens.”

Dubbing her album debut as just the beginning for her, Shenseea said she hopes now that the album is released, it goes on to gain international chart success. She shared that while her main objective with the album is being achieved, she is always aiming for the next target.

“With ALPHA, I just wanted everybody to love the music. I wanted them to just enjoy what I have done the past three and a half years. All the work that I have put in, I wanted it to pay off and I feel like it’s starting to do just that,” she said.

According to Shenseea, though the album has been released, there is still much to be done in terms of promoting the project.

“Still, with my passion for the music. If I achieve something, I start looking at the next target and that’s why I keep on moving. I wanna put this same debut album on the chart.”