Shenseea Explains Why She Named Her Album “ALPHA” And Her Top 5 Music Influences

Nicolas SimpsonMarch 12, 2022, 12:06 PM

Shenseea recently did an interview with MTV News in which she spoke about the reason behind the name for her debut album “ALPHA” and the top five persons who have influenced her journey in the music industry.

“I wanted to call it ALPHA because it resonates with my personality, it’s who I am. I’m a leader when it comes on to my ShenYengz and whatever I want to achieve in life, I lead first, I set the trends. It doesn’t matter if the world is against me, I’m gonna do what I wanna do because I am the ALPHA, I am strong, being everything that I have endured till this day in my life. I know who I am, I know what I want, I know the strength that it took for me to get here and I just feel like it was the perfect name” Shenseea said about the reason she chose that particular name for her album.

The Dancehall and rising Pop sensation stated that seeing that “ALPHA” was her first album, she felt a bit pressured when it came to bringing the aspects of the creative process together as she wanted to ensure that she incorporated the different sides to her sound and personality. She shared that on the album, she was able to experiment with different sounds which showcased versatility in her music.

In speaking about her top five influences in the music industry, Shenseea listed the following names:

Michael Jackson – she stated that he is the first one that made an imprint on her musically which made her want to become a pop star. His 2010 hit single and music video titled “Remember The Time” as stated by Shenseea is her favorite from him;
Rihanna – Shenseea stated that Riri is a complete queen and she loves her unapologetic behaviour. She mentioned that she has never seen Rihanna come down off of her seat to address anyone regardless of what they say about her;
Whitney Huston – she expressed that she believes Whitney is one of the greatest vocalists of all time and looks up to her because she has so much soul and rage when bringing her songs across;
Vybz Kartel – Shenseea mentioned that she started listening to him when she was in high school and the reason for this is because she grew up in a Christian household. She deems Kartel to be a true lyricist and an iconic artiste, one who she tries to embody when writing the lyrics for her songs;
Nicki Minaj – she stated that she has been watching her from the start of her music career and her contribution to the music industry is truly amazing. She voiced that Nicki inspired her to experiment with different sounds in her music. Her top three songs from Nicki Minaj are ‘Your Love’ ‘Right Through Me’ and ‘Starships’.

Shenseea declared that when her ShenYengz listens to her album “ALPHA”, she wants them to get the type of vibe that would say that she can do almost any sound and still sound good; she wants her versatility in any genre to be unquestioned.

“I hope my fans will learn that it doesn’t matter what anybody says, I’m still gonna do me regardless,” says Shenseea.

Watch the video of Shenseea’s interview on MTV News below: