Despite having aspirations to fill the shoes of Bajan pop star Rihanna as a child, Jamaican songbird Shenseea says the fulfilment of this dream is no longer one of her desires.

“I would often say as a child, ‘Hey, I want to be the next Rihanna’ or ‘I feel like I’m gonna be the next Rihanna’,” the performer admitted in a 2021 interview with E! News. “But as time went by, I said to myself, I don’t want to be the next Rihanna.”

Speaking in a recent interview with MTV, the Run Run singer said that while she has heard on many occasions the comparisons of herself and Rihanna by people worldwide, she does not in fact want to be Rihanna.

.@SHENYENG is willing to do it ALL to share her culture with the world — and it's working. 👑 #BlackHistoryNow pic.twitter.com/lUte9WTBgJ

— MTV (@MTV) February 6, 2022

“I love Rihanna. Rihanna is my queen, my Caribbean queen. But, I feel like she has traits that I don’t have, and I have traits that she don’t have,” said the Lick hitmaker.

Rather than try to be someone she is not, the 25-year-old told MTV, “(Rihanna) has inspired me, but I feel like I wanna be the best version of myself, because I am special in my own way.”

In embracing her own individuality, the Good Comfort singer had a message for her fans who may have aspirations to be like her.

“I wanna tell people, ‘Don’t be the next Shenseea.’ You can be so much more special in your own way. Exercise your passion, and exercise your own different personality. You feel me? And just be you.”