Biography
Who is Spice?
Early life and education
Spice: Grace Latoya Hamilton was born on August 6, 1982, in Spanish Town, Jamaica. She grew up in the community of Portmore. During her childhood, she attended church frequently and led the choir. She experienced a difficult period after her house burned down, which led to a time of homelessness. She eventually moved to Finsbury Park in London to live with relatives and attended school there for a period before returning to Jamaica.
While attending St. Catherine High School, she participated in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission festival. She competed in the music category and earned multiple medals over the years. Although she considered becoming a chartered accountant, she decided to focus on music. After graduating from high school in 2000, she enrolled at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to study music and drama.
Early career and rise to prominence
Ninjaman introduced her to the stage in 1999. In 2000, she made a significant appearance at the annual Sting dancehall festival, where she earned several encores. Following this, she went on tour in the United Kingdom and caught the attention of Baby Cham. He introduced her to the producer Dave Kelly, which led to the release of her first single, Complain, on the Madhouse Records label.
Throughout the 2000s, she released various singles and collaborated with artists like Jimmy Cliff and Beenie Man. In 2005, she released the song Fight Over Man, which gained popularity in the dancehall scene. In 2009, she collaborated with Vybz Kartel on the song Romping Shop. The track received significant airplay in the United States and spent fifteen weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, though it was later banned by the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation due to explicit lyrics.
Music releases and television success
In 2014, she released the EP So Mi Like It, which featured the successful single of the same name. The accompanying music video became the most viewed music video by a female Jamaican artist on YouTube. She also starred as the character Candy in the 2014 feature film Destiny. In 2016, she was nominated for Best Reggae Act at the MOBO Awards, becoming the first woman to receive a nomination in that category.
She joined the cast of the reality television series Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta in season seven and was promoted to a main cast member by season eight. In 2018, she released the mixtape Captured, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. She later released the studio album 10 in 2021, which earned a nomination for Best Reggae Album at the 64th Grammy Awards. She continued her independent releases with the album Emancipated in 2022 and Mirror 25 in 2024.
Advocacy and public image
In 2018, she generated significant public attention after posting a photograph with lightened skin on social media. She later clarified that the act was a stunt to raise awareness regarding colorism within the Black community. She addressed these themes in her single Black Hypocrisy, which was released in October 2018. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Digital Song Sales chart and featured an accompanying music video detailing her perspective on the issue.
Birthday and age
Spice was born on August 6, 1982, which makes Spice 44 years old today. That birthday falls under the Leo sign. Spice shares the date with 55 other famous people.
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