Jamaican female Dancehall artist, Grace Hamilton a.k a. “Spice” continues to show the world why she is Queen.
In the Dancehall Industry, women are often times overlooked. Therefore, when a female dancehall artist can rise to the top and hold her own, it’s worthy of being mentioned.
Before Spice, only a few women could anchor the dancehall stage and keep up with their male counterparts, both locally and internationally. Hats off to Sister Nancy, Lady Saw and Patra, who stood their ground in a male-dominated industry. These women had outstanding style and flair which were hard-core enough for the dancehall fans of that era. Spice saw what it takes to be impactful in the dancehall industry and she stepped up to the task and here she is today, creating a magnificent legacy.
Spice, who calls herself “Queen of Stage” has been creating major waves since the release of the single “Ramping’ Shop”, for which she collaborated with fellow Dancehall artist Vybz Kartel, in 2009. Ramping’ Shop debuted on the Billboard’s Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop charts in September 2009 and was featured on the Billboard’s “12 Best Dancehall & Reggaeton Choruses of the 21st Century”. Also, the song earned her the EME Award for “Female Deejay of the Year.”
Since then, Spice has released several hit songs, such as Jim Screechie, Fight Ova Man, Slim Versus Fluffy (a collaboration with Pamputae), Suh mi Like it, Needle Eye, Siddung, Sheet, Gum and her latest international-crossover single Duffle Bag.
In January, she became the first Jamaican artist (alive) to have 1 million followers on Instagram. Also, the main track from her digital EP “Suh mi Like it” has over 77 million views on YouTube to date. Spice is dominating other streaming platforms as well, she has an average of 340,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, this has never been achieved by any other female dancehall artiste.
Apart from her musical talent, Spice’s sense of style is above average. She has always been known to sport her infamous blue- hair. However, for the past three years, her hair has been pink, green, turquoise, purple, blonde and the list goes on.
Adorned in her colourful hairstyle, the queen also knows how to dress. Whether it be a night at the annual Reggae Sum-fest event, in her sequin bejewelled two-piece corset or an appearance at the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards, where she was dressed in a gold sparkling evening gown.
When performing, Spice and her Team Spice dancers always please the fans. At her shows, Spice is not afraid to unleash her risqué dance moves in front of the audience-much to the delight of some male fans who get the grand opportunity of having her gyrate on them.
In the Dancehall Industry, it has become quite common for artists to become brand ambassadors, and of course, Spice has joined in on the action. She became a brand Ambassador for Sperone Moscato in June 2017.
Many dancehall fans may argue that Spice isn’t the only female making waves in the industry. However, Spice’s consistency cannot go unnoticed. The crowned Queen of the Dancehall, Marion Hall a.k.a Lady Saw has left a big space to fill and based on the current stats, Spice is the only artist with the potential to fill the gap. As the quote says, “render unto Caesar, what is Caesar’s.”
It makes no sense to avoid the obvious, Spice’s talent is growing enormously and her songs fit perfectly into this era of female empowerment. Which is why she has the potential to draw the interests of those who have a deep love for dancehall music.
Within the last three years, Spice has done a number of tours and has collaborated with international artists like Mya and Missy Elliott. Also, her new single Duffle Bag has an international sound, mixed with dancehall verses and it may be the ticket to open more doors for her on the international scene, this, of course, is an ultimate achievement.
The whole idea of being an entertainer, irrespective of the genre, is that one has to know that there is a “world stage”, and it takes a brave and consistent individual to get on that stage and represent. Right now, Spice has that!
