‘Below expectations’ - ‘Contractor’ expected more from Shenseea’s ‘Alpha’

Producer and music marketer Sean 'Contractor' Edwards feels that Shenseea's just-released album, Alpha, performed "below expectations" after debuting at number two on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart behind Bob Marley's Legend.

Alpha, which was released via Rich Immigrants/Interscope on March 11, immediately topped the iTunes Reggae albums chart. There were expectations that Alpha would debut on other charts, namely the Billboard Reggae and Top 200 Albums charts. But Marley is standing firmly at number one on the Reggae Album chart, having moved 2,968 units in pure album sales and 11,162 in overall sales, which includes streaming.

Alpha's first week sales stand at 845 units in pure album sales, while overall sales activity, which comprises streaming, stands at 4,879.

Edwards told THE STAR that if Shenseea were "a regular artiste coming out of Jamaica, these numbers would be good", but for an artiste aligned with a major label like Interscope and who is getting that major push, "it is below standard".

He noted that Alpha did not make an entry on the Billboard Top 200.

In August last year, Spice's album, 10, debuted at number six on the Billboard Reggae Album chart. It sold 676 copies in pure album sales during the first week.

Edwards feels that Alpha would have performed better if it had a standout track.

"Although we can all agree that Shenseea has some good songs on the album, unfortunately, there were no hit songs. By hits I mean crossover hits in America. She tried with the Lick, but the Lick never connect. It never work; probably that topic is not taboo to Americans anymore ... they are way past that decades now. She has good songs, but no hits and you need hit singles to drive the sales of an album," Edwards said.

He also opined that the marketing of Alpha should have been more targeted.

"I think that Shenseea should have done a lot of marketing to the first, second and third generation Jamaicans who are living in the United States. The last time that Jamaicans in America ... and even in Jamaica ... all got behind an artiste one time was when Tessanne Chin was in The Voice, and they got her to win The Voice by sending in those votes for her.

"I think she left out that core market and was focusing on the black American market where she does not really have a foothold as yet. So I think she neglected the core Jamaicans living in the US," Edwards said.

Shenseea has notched up credits as the first female dancehall artiste to hit Billboard's Hot 100 in 17 years and the first female Jamaican artiste to perform on the Rolling Loud stage in both Miami and New York. She is also the only female deejay featured on Kanye West's Grammy-nominated album, DONDA, with songs Pure Souls and Ok Ok Pt 2.

In an interview with THE STAR at her recent album launch, the Grammy-nominated Shenseea stated, "At the end of the day, I am trying to please my core fans, but I am also pleasing myself. As an artiste, I want to explore my creativity. I have way much bigger dreams than just sticking to dancehall only, and if I can infuse pop, R&B, rap into my dancehall music, that is exactly what I am going to do because it is my dream."