Female Reggae Artists

Since the birth of reggae in the 1960s, it has become a worldwide sensation. It has introduced the world to the likes of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and other talented artists. Usually we speak about men in discussions about reggae. However, many female reggae artists have contributed to its development. In this article, we will look at some of these talented female artists.

Queen Ifrica is a true gem. Reggae’s classical era influences her style. She is true to her craft and stayed clear slackness and violence in her songs. Queen Ifrica always has a positive message in her lyrics and holds firm to her core beliefs as a Rastafarian. She represents strong beautiful black women.

Ifrica is a voice for people empowerment and women’s rights. She brings pressing issues to the table such as child abuse in her song ‘Daddy ’. In her song ‘Black Woman’, she speaks about women’s issues and for black women to hold their heads up. Her song ‘Times like These’ speaks about the injustices in Jamaica such as poverty, violence and mismanagement in government.

She is an active community leader. Ifrica is involved in several outreach programs for children in Jamaica’s inner city and charity shows where she donates to the cause. We need more artists like Ifrica who are not afraid to speak out about injustices in the world especially towards women.

We recognise Tessanne for winning season five of the singing competition ‘The Voice’. However, she already had a successful career in Jamaica prior to the competition. She led the rock-reggae group Mile High and later toured the globe with the legendary Jimmy Cliff.  In 2007, her hit ‘Secret Hideaway’ launched her solo career. Tessanne went on to have a series of hits such as ‘Messenger’, ‘Never letting Go’ with Shaggy and ‘Loving You with Kes’ just to name a few.

Music runs in her blood her mother used to sing and play the trumpet with the ‘Carnations’. Her father was the drummer in the same band and later went on to build his own recording studio. Tessanes’ sister Tami Chin is also a well-known recording artist currently married to Wayne Marshall. Tessanne Chin has mixed ethnicity her father is Chinese and Cherokee American and her mother is black (Jamaican) and white (English).

It is no doubt that the Voice propelled her career. She released her first album for the Republic label, Count on My Love, in July 2014 after the competition. Tessanne brings something unique to reggae her style is traditional reggae fused with rock.

Bad gal Ce’Cile is one of the most beautiful female reggae artists; she is also one of the most successful. She has worked with elite artists including; Trina, Shaggy, Timberland, Flo Rida, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Sean Paul, Gavin Rossdale, Chronixx and Nina Sky . Ce’Cile is lyrical and has a diverse catalogue; and has one of the best voices in dancehall.

Her single “Gold Dust” with DJ Fresh in 2010 peaked at number twenty-four on the UK singles chart. It also reached number thirty-nine on the Irish Singles Charts. The sale of all versions of Gold Dust are combined together enabled it to have sold in excess of 400,000 copies. Thus receiving a Gold certification, despite never reaching the top twenty of the UK Singles Charts.

Her most recent tracks include songs such as ‘Delete You’, Boom Wuk and Since You. Ce’Cile continues to produce quality music since her debut in the late 90s. This shows her longevity.

Etana whose real name is Shauna McKenzie was born in Kingston Jamaica. Her name means ‘the strong one’ in Swahili and ‘Dedication’ in Hebrew. Her career started when she joined the R&B group called ‘Gift’. However, she left the group, as she did not like the lingerie and skimpy clothing they had to wear at their first video shoot. At the time, she was in Florida, America and returned to Jamaica.

In Jamaica, she joined Richie Spice’s group as a backup singer. She released her first track in 2007 entitled, “Wrong Address” with some other members of Spice’s group. The song quickly rose to number one on the Jamaican charts. The track landed on Etana’s debut, the 2008 VP records release The Strong One, which also featured the hits “I Am Not Afraid” and “Roots.

Etana produces socially conscious music and highlights the difficulties faced by the impoverished members of society. Some of her hits include, Trigger, People talk, Richest Girl, Love Song, Happy Heart and Crazy.

Vivienne Tanya Stephenson aka Tanya Stevens, was born in St. Mary Jamaica. Tanya Stevens is one of the most lyrical female artists in dancehall. She had her big break on the Joyride Riddim with song a called “Yuh Nuh Ready fi Dis Yet”. Her hits span over decades including songs like Big Ninja Bike, Draw Fi Mi Finger, Damn You, These Streets and Unapologetic.

Tanya is very witty in writing her songs and you can see the intelligence in her song structure. In her song ‘These Streets’ she uses a lot of literary devices telling her man she wants to be treated like his gun and other inanimate objects. She is versatile and can approach any topic successfully.

Spice, real name Grace Latoya Hamilton is the full package when it comes to a female reggae artist. She is beautiful, has charisma, excellent live performances, produces great music and is an innovator. We can say without dispute that Spice is the current queen of dancehall music. From her major hit with Vybz Kartel ‘Romping Shop’ in 2009 Spice has never slowed down.

In 2014, she released her EP with VP Records ‘So mi like it’ that spawned a hit single of the same name. The EP debuted at number 14 on the Billboard Top Reggae Album charts. Spice has done songs with artists such as Busta Rymes, Asap Ferg and Bunji Garling just to name a few.

She also received an award for “Best Female Dancehall Artist” at the 35th Annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA).

The choreography of Spice’s dancers during her live performances is something to behold. To be honest we have never seen a female reggae artist have stage performances like hers. We recognise Jamaican women’s’ ability to dance, however, Spice takes it to another level.

When we speak about current female dancehall icons Spices’ name has to be in the conversation. Spice is one of the best female reggae artists of this generation. She is currently on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta; we believe to gain more recognition on the international market.

Shenseea born Chinsea Lee is a Jamaican female reggae artist. She is one of the newest members to the dancehall arena but is already making huge waves in the music industry. At the beginning of 2016, Shenseea recorded her debut single “Jiggle Jiggle” that quickly became a hit. Shortly afterwards she was approached to work with Vybz Kartel on a track entitled “Loodi”, which became a massive hit in Jamaica.

Shenseea has since released many hits such as Nothing Dem Nuh Have Ova Mi, Tell Me, Wine, Baddish and Hard Drive. All of these tracks rack up huge views on YouTube, which shows her popularity. She has done a lot in merely two years of being on the scene.

She is one of the most beautiful female reggae artists but she is also one of the most lyrical. Shenseea is also in our list of beautiful female Caribbean singers. She uses many similes in her songs and is more complex in her lyrics. We believe through her lyrical ability, image and charisma she will be in the industry for many years to come.

Ishawna Natalia Smith grew up between Seaview Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica and Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of singer/dancehall artistes Don Angelo. In 2006, Bounty Killer took her under his wing after he saw her performing at the Asylum Nightclub. He believed so much in her talent that he made her part of his crew ‘The Alliance’.

In 2008, she had three hits one with Demarco ‘For You’ and two tracks with Elephant Man that propelled her career. Ishawna has recorded songs with American rapper Safaree. She also has hits including Vroom Vroom, Oola La La, Slippery When Wet and Equal Rights and Justice.

Ishawna has a soft smooth voice with hard-core lyrics behind it. She also displays her versatility abilities in many of her tracks. A lot of her music is sexually charged and she uses a lot of metaphors and similes in her lyrics.

You cannot speak about female reggae artists and not mention Lady Saw; she is a true icon in dancehall. Lady Saw whose real name is Marion Hall is a legend. She had the undisputed title of Queen of the Dancehall until she retired from dancehall music in 2015.

Marion Hall signed to the Jamaican grassroots label VP Records and debuted in 1994 with Lover Girl. Lady Saw later teamed up with Shabba Ranks to produce the song “Want It Tonight.” She then in 1997 produced two X-rated songs one with Shaggy “Mr. Lover Lover” and Beenie Man “Healing”.

Her hits span over two decades such as; Sycamore Tree, Woman Wi Name, Hice it Up, man is the least, Chat to Mi back and I’ve Got Your Man. Lady Saw won a Grammy Award in 2004 for “Underneath It All,” alongside No Doubt, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. Lady Saw is the first female deejay to win a Grammy and certified as a triple-platinum artist.

She has had 24 years of success in the music industry and her raw talent, stage presence and charisma is what made this possible. Many of today’s current female reggae artists have emulated her style. You can see traces of Lady Saws influence in current female Deejays raunchy lyrics and stage performances.

Janice Fyffe was born in Spanish Town, Kingston, Jamaica, and West Indies. Fyffe began singing with the Maurice Johnson’s Black Scorpio sound system and her reputation soon spread. She is a real legend in the game. She has won DJ of the year in 1988 -1991, 1994 and 1998. These are award bodies such as martins, Tamika, Rockers, Jamaica Federation of Musician (JFM), Binns and the Canadian Reggae Music Awards.

Her more recent music are songs such as “Girls Know What Guys Want”, “Enough”, “Talk To We” (With Macka Diamond) on the 2004 Degree riddim, “Hungry Child”, “Can’t Live Like We” on the Gold Mine riddim and “Nah Go Dung” on the Scoobay riddim.

Lady G has paved the way for female reggae artists like Lady Patra and Lady Saw. She is one of the artists who would have helped develop dancehall from its early stages to what it is today.

Lady Patra whose real name is Dorothy Smith was born in Kingston Jamaica. She got her stage name from the shortened version of the word Cleopatra. She gained popularity in the 1990s for her albums Queen of the Pack and Scent of Attraction.

Patra’s biggest hit was her cover of Grace Jones’s “Pull Up to the Bumper” featuring R&B musician Aaron Hall. She had a hiatus of almost a decade, but returned to music with the release of the 2003 album The Great Escape.

Patra is a true legend in the genre and one of the legendary female reggae artists. She is an innovator and paved the way for many young female reggae artists today.

Do you believe we left anyone off the list that deserves to be here? Comment below to let us know if you agree with our list or if you think we left out important artists.