In the last five years, Jamaican music has seen the emergence of a few women, who, to say the least, are making quite the name for themselves.

These new talents, both in reggae and dancehall, have taken other genres of music, such as pop and R&B, and fused them with the Jamaican genres.

They have been creating trendy and catchy songs, and each has at least one hit to their name.

Jada Kingdom

Jada Kingdom, whose real name is Jada Ashanti Murphy, was born and raised in Seven Mile, Bull Bay, where she resided in a two-bedroom home with her mother, brother, and sister. Emerging with her first single, Love Situations, in 2017, it was in the following year, with the release of her hit song, Banana, that she catapulted to fame.

The singer first fell in love with music when her grandmother played for her music by the American R&B group, The Manhattans. Kingdom has shared that she was also inspired by the likes of Diana King, Amy Winehouse, Minnie Riperton and Nina Simone.

The 23-year-old singer, who was born on September 5, 1998, attended the St Benedict’s Primary School in Harbour View, St Andrew, and then Vauxhall High, where she finished at the age of 16.

Prior to her career in music, Kingdom was a popular social media personality as well as a model and the owner of swimsuit brand ‘Jadur Kastel’.

Kingdom twists together dancehall, R&B, pop, and jazz, with Banana as one her most recognisable songs.

Koffee

Born in Spanish Town, St Catherine, 22-year old Mikayla Simpson, better known by her stage name Koffee, first emerged on the music scene in 2018, but was propelled to fame with her hit single, Toast, in 2019.

The Grammy-award winning artiste, who attended Ardenne High School, began her singing career at the tender age of 12, singing on the church choir and teaching herself to play the guitar. In 2016, she unknowingly signed up for her school talent show and won.

“They had a show in the cafeteria one day and people were going up to perform poems and songs. My friends encouraged me to go up and perform so I did and the place loved it. I had no idea it was an audition until my name got called over the intercom,” she said.

Unlike many artistes today, Koffee has gone for a more traditional sound, releasing last Friday (March 25), her debut 10-track album, Gifted.

Shenseea

Chinsea Linda Lee, known professionally as Shenseea, is one of the most popular acts in dancehall today. She was born in Mandeville, Manchester and later moved to Kingston where she was raised.

The Blessed artiste’s break out hit was Loodi, featuring Vybz Kartel. Since then, the singjay has gone on to produce hit after hit after hit. In recent times, however, the dancehall princess has crossed over on the international scene, pushing out hip hop and R&B records. Earlier this month, she released her debut album, ALPHA.

The dancehall vixen attended Mona High School in St Andrew and moved on to Exed Community College, where she majored in Entertainment Management. However, due to financial constraints, she was unable to complete her studies.

The 25-yesr-old, born October 1, started out as ‘promo girl’ for entrepreneur and artiste manager Romeich Major, who discovered her talent and signed her. Since emerging, Shenseea has collaborated with the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Tyga, Beenie Man, Sean Paul and Offset.

Lila Iké

Born in Manchester, the singer attended Manchester High School and later attended Northern Caribbean University (NCU).

Iké (pronounced eye-kay), who works under Jamaican reggae artiste Protoje’s music label, In.Digg.Nation, has joined the Rasta Love hitmaker in the past on his sets at Reggae Sumfest.

Born Alecia Grey, Iké’s love for music developed while in high school. She would create jingles on the spot for class projects and did freestyles in class with her friends.

The singer won best talent in her high school pageant and also penned the song for her graduating class. While attending NCU, she would sign up for open mics.

The singer, who released her first EP, titled The Experience, recently announced new material on the way.

Lila Iké is perhaps most popularly known for her record, Where I’m Coming From.

Naomi Cowan

No stranger to the world of music, Naomi Cowan grew up under the mentorship of mother, Gospel musician Carlene Davis, and father, impresario, reggae music producer, songwriter and former road manager for Bob Marley, Tommy Cowan. She has also has experience in the piano and guitar.

A former Ms Teen Jamaica, Cowan has shared that her passion lies in philanthropy which can be seen through her work with youth in both Toronto and Jamaica. She attended the Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

In 2019 she became the brand ambassador for the Bob Marley Foundation and she has also opened for Estelle at the Grammy awards.

Cowan is perhaps most notable for her Paradise Plum single which has topped several reggae charts.

Stalk Ashley

Stalk Ashley was first exposed to music via her church choir. Growing up in a strict Christian household, her coming of age in music occurred when she moved to Kingston at the age of 19.

Thanks to her Anita Baker collection and her deep dive into dancehall, she was able to blueprint her sexually empowering, slow-grind sound. One such example is her break out single, Young.

The singer credits her brother as her inspiration to pursue music.

“The first song that made me want to do music was a song that my brother recorded. I always liked music and was always drawn to melodies and cadence, but when I heard my brother make a song, it made me realise how possible it was to create music and I instantly knew it was something I wanted to do.”

She made her name via via Jada Kingdom’s ‘Banana Challenge’ online. Ashley and Kingdom then went on to collaborate on the single, Wasteman.

Debuting in 2018, Ashley has collaborated with the likes of Alkaline, Skeng and Stormzy.

Sevana

Anna-Sharé Blake, known professionally as Sevana, emerged on the music scene first in the 2009 edition of Digicel Rising Stars, a part of the girl group, ‘SLR’, who placed third. She attended the Manning’s High School.

After taking a hiatus from music, she returned to the industry in 2014 and was introduced to the international scene, featured on Protoje’s single Sudden Flight.

Sevana has credited Beyonce, Celine Don and Anita Baker as her inspirations. The 31-year-old released a soulful self-titled solo EP in 2016.

Her most popular song to date is Mango, which was released in 2020.

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