Stefflon Don has carved out her own niche within UK rap’s boys’ club with relative ease. Thanks to her cutting verses, the 30-year-old star has a string of features: Anne Marie, Sean Paul, Nile Rodgers. And yet, no album. This year, that will finally change as she releases her long-awaited debut, Island 54. It holds true to her willingness to meld multiple music styles – the dancehall of her youth, lightning-fast verses influenced by grime, even South African dance style amapiano – and her eagerness to prove herself as a creative force.

On the album you’re playing with lots of genres. What motivated you to explore new sounds?
It’s just been natural. [The amapiano track] is very interesting, right? I love amapiano. I go to Ghana every year for New Year. If you’re in a dance, all you hear is afrobeats, amapiano, it always gets everyone going. It’s just a hype! I was brought up in Holland, my parents are Jamaican, so everything is a mix. I’m so used to hearing many different languages and many different sounds that I connect with. That’s why my music is very versatile – I don’t stick to just one thing because I’m not one thing.

You often draw on your Jamaican heritage. What does Jamaica mean to you as a musician?
I grew up in a Jamaican household. That’s the first culture I knew, the first language I’ve heard from being in the womb. It’s very important for anyone that comes from a massive cultural background like that to embrace it. Someone once told me you can’t buy culture. It doesn’t matter how much someone from another background loves making the music, they’re just not gonna be Jamaican, are they? If they weren’t heavily invested in that culture, that upbringing, the food, the language – that’s something money can’t buy. I’m always gonna put Jamaica to the forefront because that’s who I am.

Rap and dancehall can be hard genres to break as a woman. Have you ever felt that?
No – I’m not living my life like, “I’m a woman and I have to prove myself.” I’m just trying to prove myself, period. That’s my mentality, more so now than ever, because I’ve been around for a minute and I feel like everyone is like: “OK, I know she can do this and that – what else?” That’s what it is to be an artist – you’ve always gotta evolve. But I would like to see more women in the UK rap scene. As artists we’re very competitive, so if there are more people doing stuff and being seen, it’s only going to make other artists be like, “OK, I need to put my best foot forward.”

Why did you title the album Island 54?
My label is called 54 London. Five minus four is one, and 54 also represents the 54 countries in Africa. The island is me – I’m an island girl. From Africa to the islands, and this is the type of music I’d want to hear on an island with all my friends and family.

You had your breakout in 2016 and many fans would assume that you’ve already released your debut album. Why now?
I wish I’d done one before, but I don’t think I understood all the elements of what it takes to make an album. I always took my music seriously, but I didn’t ever think: “OK, what type of thing do I want to make, what message do I want to get across?” Now, in this stage of my life, I’m more focused and serious when it comes to a project. I want people to know me more; the album is a good way to do that.

Is proving yourself something you’re anxious about?
I’m not really worried about numbers. I feel like when you produce something great, it lasts for ever. But the business mindset is that everything should be big at the beginning. It’s very sad. People are scared to drop music or try new things because the numbers might not match up – that’s not what music is about. That’s why so many things sound the same, because it’s the safest thing to do, to sound like someone else. People have to remember that we’re not in the time that we used to be; there’s hundreds of thousands of songs coming out. You can drop something so great, but then there’s 55 other people that dropped the same day. Nowadays people only want to hear the first four seconds of a song before they decide whether they want to listen to the rest because there’s so many things to consume: gaming, apps, scrolling every minute. The only way to stand out is to make sure those first 10 seconds make someone want to listen to the rest.

How do you want your debut album to be received?
I want people to see it as a masterpiece and understand that I am very much deserving of the No 1 spot.

• Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site.