British powerhouse music executive Riki Bleau, the founder and co-president of Since ’93, the United Kingdom’s leading black-owned record label, has described his association with dancehall artiste Shenseea as a full circle moment.

On Friday October 24, Shenseea released Boss Up, her debut single for Since ‘93/Columbia Records. It is her first major label association since she parted ways late last year with Interscope Records.

“Shenseea is signed to Since ’93 and Columbia Records US, a co-fund between the two companies. It’s a real full circle moment as I’ve known Shenseea since 2017 and brought her to London back then to work on songs. We explored working together then, but didn’t. We caught up this summer and the timing felt right,” Bleau told the Jamaica Observer recently.

The deal, according to Bleau is long term, and he and his team will be working alongside the marketing team at Columbia Records to achieve international success for Shenseea.

“Going back as far as Bob Marley to Shabba Ranks, the United Kingdom and Europe have always been important markets for the global growth of artistes from the Caribbean and Africa and similarly Afrobeats artistes, like Wizkid and Burna Boy, built their momentum there prior to conquering America. Our team at Since ‘93 have delivered that in recent years with Tems and Tyla and we have similar ambitions for Shenseea,” Bleau shared.

He added, “With the work Shenseea and her team have done in recent years in the US market it was important to have a joined-up international approach, and Ron Perry (Chairman/CEO) at Columbia got that vision and came on board. I will be working alongside Victoria and Benson (Columbia Marketing team) and with Naim, Glyn [Aikins – co-president of Since ’93] and I on A&R. We have a team equipped to deliver.”

Asked of his immediate plans for Shenseea’s career, Bleau said: “Shenseea is hugely ambitious and our plan is to build upon the foundation she and her team have built.
Boss up is the first step on our journey together.”

The track, which samples the double platinum 2001 hit Hit Em Up Style (Oops!) by Blu Cantrell, was produced by Los Angeles-based Kristopher Riddick-Tynes and Alex Goldblatt.

Since ‘93 was formed in 2016. A culture facing full-service entertainment company with a record label, publishing company, talent management company, and sports agency. Over the years, the company has worked with chart-topping acts including Labrinth, Naughty Boy, Emeli Sande, Sam Smith, Krept x Konan, Fredo, Aitch, Wizkid, Popcaan, Tems, Tyla, and Shallipoppi.

Bleau spoke about his Caribbean connections.

“I am of Dominican descent, but growing up in inner-city London my area was heavily inflicted by Jamaican culture and my ‘other mum’, who contributed to raising me was a Jamaican woman. So I spent a lot of time as a child with my extended Jamaican family,” Bleau disclosed.

Of note, he has worked with other artistes from the Caribbean.

“I’ve worked with Popcaan for two years in a management role and now Shenseea in a record label role. I had the honour of working with Teejay, team Grinch, and the legend that is Vybz Kartel on his UK/Europe tour. They are an exceptional example of teamwork and the best I’ve experienced working with in any capacity in the Caribbean so far,” said Bleau.

The music exec has previously worked as head of music & promotions at Channel U, a groundbreaking youth culture TV platform in the UK. Over the years, he has developed a reputation for discovering talent and driving global success.