Shenseea’s ‘Never Gets Late Here’ Debuts On Billboard Reggae Chart With Lower-Than-Expected First Week Sales
Shenseea‘s sophomore album Never Gets Late Here has debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, a weekly listing that ranks the most popular Reggae albums in the United States based on sales and streaming.
Released via Rich Immigrants/Interscope Records on May 24, the album recorded approximately 2,000 units in combined sales and streaming in the United States during its first week of release.
Never Gets Late Here opened lower on the Reggae Albums chart than Shenseea’s previous album, Alpha, which debuted at No. 2. Alpha, released on March 11, 2022, had recorded 4,900 units during its first week of release.
The album’s first single, Hit & Run with Masicka, is the top-performing track from the 14-track collection. Released in January 2024, it has amassed over 51 million views on YouTube and 12 million plays on Spotify. The rollout continued with the solo tracks Die For You, released in March, and Neva Neva, released in May. The collaboration Flava with Coi Leray was also released late last month.
The project was executively produced by London On Da Track with additional contributions from producers C. ‘Tricky’ Stewart, Supa Mario, Dwayne ‘Supa Dups’ Chin-Quee, Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor, Chimney Records, Banx and Ranx, and Rvssian.
In an interview with People Magazine, Shenseea said that she had “no expectations” for her sophomore release. “I’m trying to stay not too excited, I’ll say, because I don’t know what to expect. I’m just hoping for the best,” said the Blessed singer.
“It has just been a relief trying to get this project out there for the past year, and so the time has finally come for it to hit everyone’s ears, and I’m just anxious to see the feedback, to be honest. I really want one of these songs to go further than any of my songs has ever been.”
“I curated an album filled with hits, so whichever, I would not be mad,” she added. “I don’t have any expectations to say this is going to be the one. I just try to make the best music that I could to curate on this album because, as the title says, Never Gets Late Here.”
She did admit that a Grammy win would be a dream come true. “Even if it’s just nominated,” Shenseea told PEOPLE.
“I always said that I want to win a reggae Grammy first before I win any other Grammy because it’s where I’m from. I don’t want to win just for myself, I want to win it for my country, I want to win it for my family, my friends, the people who grew up with me, my team.”
Meanwhile, on the Billboard Reggae Album chart dated June 8, Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers continued its reign at No. 1 for the 229th week.
Sean Paul’s Dutty Classics Collection and Shaggy’s Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection are at No. 2 and 3, respectively.
Stick Figure’s World On Fire, Set In Stone and Wisdom albums at No. 5, 6 and 8, respectively.
UB40’s Greatest Hits compilation is at No. 7, while Ini Kamoze’s Here Comes The Hot Stepper album is at No. 9.
Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Kaya album is at No. 10.