Spice (musician)

Spice
Spice in 2023
Born
Grace Latoya Hamilton

(1982-08-06) 6 August 1982 (age 42)
Spanish Town, Jamaica
EducationEdna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts
Occupations
  • Deejay
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active2000–present
Partners
  • Nicholas Lall (2006–2016; ex-fiancé)
  • Justin Budd (2020–2022)
Children2
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Labels
  • VP
  • Spice Official
Websitespiceofficial.com

Grace Latoya Hamilton (born 6 August 1982),[1] known professionally as Spice, is a Jamaican dancehall musician, singer, and songwriter. Known as the "Queen of Dancehall", Spice is recognised as one of the most prominent dancehall artists in the world.[2][3] She is known for her aggressive flow, musical versatility and outspoken lyrics. Spice first gained recognition after performing at the annual dancehall festival Sting in 2000. She released her first single "Complain" for record producer Dave Kelly's Madhouse Records in 2003. She continued to release the singles "Right There" and "Hype", even being featured on songs with Jimmy Cliff and Beenie Man in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

Spice had her first major success with the controversial single "Ramping Shop" with Vybz Kartel in 2009. She subsequently signed with VP Records and released her debut EP, So Mi Like It (2014), which was preceded by a single of the same name. During the 2016 MOBO Awards, Spice became the first woman dancehall artist to ever be nominated for Best Reggae Act, as well as the only woman to be nominated for the category overall. She appears as a regular cast member on VH1's reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, which depicts her pursuit of reaching an international level in her music career and juggling her professional life with her personal life.

Spice's first full-length project, a mixtape titled Captured (2018), was released independently and debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. Her long-delayed debut studio album, 10 (2021), was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 64th Grammy Awards in 2022. Following her departure from VP, she independently released her second studio album, Emancipated (2022), under her own label, Spice Official Entertainment, from which she also released the deluxe version of her sophomore album in September 2022. Since then she has released her second independent project Mirror 25 (2024), her third studio album.

  1. ^ "Spice (Grace Latoya Hamilton) | Artist | Riddim-ID". riddim-id.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Spice to be crowned Queen of Dancehall at Reggae Sumfest 2020". Jamaica Gleaner. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  3. ^ Kelly, Emma (23 October 2018). "Love & Hip-Hop star Spice denounces colourism by 'bleaching skin' for new single". Metro. Retrieved 28 May 2021.