Get To Know Spice, A Rising Star In The Jamaican Dancehall
She's a queen doing queen things!
Instagram There are several dancehall artists that are out there today, but few are making the splash that this artist is making. Her music is nothing if not infectious, and her gorgeous good looks are endearing her to a whole generation of fans of the dancehall. Who is Spice?
From the minute she came onto the dancehall scene, Grace LaToya Hamilton — known to the world as Spice — has been making waves. In 2009, her song with Vybz Kartel, "Romping Shop," unleashed a firestorm of controversy which ultimately got it banned from Jamaican radio because of its explicit lyrical content. But "Romping Shop" catapulted Spice into superstardom, and it wasn't long before she was going on world tours. Today, she's one of the stars of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and she's preparing to release her debut album on Shaggy's Ranch Entertainment label.
Let's look at what else we know about this Jamaican dancehall superstar.
1. She's the first dancehall artist to be featured in the Love & Hip Hop franchise.
According to Urban Islandz, even though Spice has been breaking all sorts of records in the dancehall world — and causing controversy in her wake — she's also a record-breaking dancehall artist in another way: she's the first to ever be featured in the Love & Hip Hop franchise.
2. Spice is making waves on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta by taking up for unpopular cast members.
Let's see if we can explain this simply: according to VH1.com, even though Spice and Akbar V don't always get along — and even though Akbar V isn't a very popular cast member on the show — Spice recently stood up for her when a fellow castmember, Shekinah, went after her. The outlet reports that Shekinah recently attacked Akbar V and questioned her ability to be a mother, and that prompted Spice to say that Shekinah doesn't have children of her own, so she should keep her opinions to herself.
3. She recently attended Kanye West's "Sunday Service."
In October, Kanye West took his "Sunday Service" gospel-oriented event to Jamaica — and the Jamaican Tourism Board sponsored the event, according to The Grio. But the best part of all this was Spice's attendance at the event, which she shared with her Instagram followers. You can check it out below.
4. Spice is the new ambassador for Magnum Wines.
"Spice, the Queen of Dancehall, has been named one of the newest Magnum Tonic Wine ambassadors, according to Haitian-American, Marie Driven, managing partner of the Brooklyn-based Playbook MG. The Jamaican Dancehall Queen was named alongside dancehall artist Ding Dong. At Magnum’s 20th anniversary celebration in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, two Saturdays ago, Driven said Spice gave “a riveting performance after making a grand entrance with the crowd, rejoicing in some of the artiste’s greatest accomplishments that were highlighted on the big screen, as she took the stage," reported Caribbean Life News.
5. She was accused of rolling her eyes at Megan Thee Stallion.
According to BET.com, when Megan Thee Stallion won the BET Hip-Hop Award for Best Mixtape, Spice was allegedly caught on camera rolling her eyes at the winner.
6. But Spice calls the accusation "hogwash."
Upon word that Spice rolled her eyes at the Houston Hottie, Spice took to her Twitter page to defend herself, and to dispute the claim that she was rolling her eyes at Megan Thee Stallion.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.