Leading Dancehall Deejay turned Love and Hip Hop star Spice finally crowned Queen of The Dancehall at Reggae Sumfest 2022. The new Queen was crowned after her show stopping performance at the festival in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Montego Bay.
Prior to her Sumfest performance Spice posted on instagram, a video of her and her dancers leaving her hotel room with the caption “Me going for my crown @reggaesumfest.”
The dancers followed her for the entire night.
Speaking after her on stage coronation Spice said, “I am elated, I a humbled as well, I am super happy, that they at least recognize to how much I have given to the stage of Reggae Sumfest, not only the staging of Reggae Sumfest but dancehall the genre, as a woman you know that’s difficult.”
Spice said her plan is to please the fans.
“The game plan was please the fans and i feel like i did just that, I am always just going to go above and beyond to make sure they go home with something, they come out to see something, I am excited when I hear people say ‘me cyah wait fi see weh Spice a come wid.”
Spice crowning comes two decades after her entry into the dancehall arena and a 2 year delay due to the lack of a Reggae Sumfest staging caused by the Pandemic.
Ninja Man first gave Spice the mic to DJ on a sound system.
Since then she has consistently racked up dancehall hits and gave theatrical performances marked by elaborate costumes and dancers.
Spice is celebrating a year of success in the music industry with international recognition from Barack Obama and a Grammy nomination for her debut album.
She says, “I’ve been doing so many hits after hits after hits, that was my first album and to be Grammy nominated that’s another milestone, that’s a great moment for me.”
She wouldn’t be a true Queen without declaring her sovereignty, the ‘Go Down Deh’ artists also revealed she is officially out of her record deal with VP records.
“Now that I am officially out of VP Records I am releasing a new album celebrating my independence and it’s called Emancipated.”
Spice released a new song earlier this week titled Make It Clap, distributed by the Steve Stoute owned United Masters who she says she is now working with to release records independently.
Spice’s dancehall ladies anthem Go Down Deh featuring Shaggy and Sean Paul, recently surpassed 100 million YouTube streams. This is her second music video to reach the mark. Her other signature dancehall hit So Mi Like It has been streamed 108 million times since its 2014 release.
Go Down Deh is produced by Costi Ionita, and the video is directed by dancehall music video director Jay Will. It is the lead single on Spice’s Grammy nominated debut album Ten, Executive produced by Shaggy.
Even with her success over two decades Spice says ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ and anyone wanting to become the next dancehall Queen will have to put in the work.
“There was a Queen before me and now that I am officially crowned the Queen there definitely will have to be another Queen after me””I just hope that the Queen after me will know seh it aguh take resilience and hard work and dedication and motivation cause its alotta current female out there doing good but I have been in the business for 20 years and to be consistent for 20 years that’s the key so its not about who hit now and who a do them thing now, lets see ten years after this who is gonna remain true and stay consistent.”
