Spice Pays Tribute To Ninjaman On His Birthday
Dancehall star Spice has paid homage to Ninjaman, the man who mentored her in her days as an unknown adolescent trying to get her break in the Dancehall industry.
The tribute came on Sunday, Ninjaman’s 55th birthday, just weeks after Ocho Rios-based artiste Black Queen slammed the Cool It artiste for failing to help or visit Ninjaman, since he began serving a lifetime sentence for murder in 2017.
Black Queen had also accused Spice of being ungrateful, and never ever even sending “a happy birthday shout out to Ninja”. She also said Ninjaman was a relative of hers, and that he went ‘all out’ for Spice, taking her to countless stage shows, and, among other things, intervening when Beenie Man allegedly instructed one of his followers to ‘box’ her.
However, on Sunday Spice issued birthday greetings to Ninja on Instagram, under a snippet of a video clip in which the Murder Dem artiste, whose given name is Desmond Ballentine, called on her to perform on a stage show.
“Happy birthday Ninja Man Living Legend. Every time I see this video it bring tears to my eyes. Looking back at my journey I’ll never forget how supportive you were towards me, watch hungry spice, watch 3 piece layer hair, watch 15 year old little girl trying to make it WOW ‼ Look at God,” she wrote.
“Ninja Man never pass me back stage, no matter the hours of the morning I stayed back stage and waited on him. He always use to call me up onstage to give me a shine, simple because he knew how lyrical I was at a tender age and I wouldn’t Dap him on stage no time at all. Always a Buss up the crowd @ninjaman_music I LOVE YOU 😘😘😘💙💙💙 THANK YOU For believing in me and for making it possible for my kids to not know poverty. @badgyalcecile Watch me a counteract your song 😂😂😂 Love you sis, my face is #Nicholatoy right yah so😩 #Jesus I love you, lord I pray Ninja Man will have a early release a road jah jah he has a heart of Gold 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 #HBDNinjaMan,” she added.
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In the full video clip which can be found on YouTube, the teenaged Spice delivers lyrics aimed at singjay Ce’Cile, counteracting her breakout song Changez , after being summoned to the stage by Ninjaman.
“A weh di mad one weh name Spice deh?” Ninja asked as Spice stepped forward.
“Yuh fava Busta. Guh out deh suh man,” Ninja ordered Spice, before asking the patrons: “Shi ugly like mi don’t?”
Shi betta lookin dan Ce’cile,” he added before telling Spice: “Show dem how yuh bad”
Spice complied with Ninjaman’s orders and then declared: “Ninjaman a war god. Bounty Killa a warlord. Well, mi a war devil. Dem couldn’t look fi guh war wid poor likkle ugly Ce’cile enuh. But mi a war devil an mi war any gyal, anytime. Yuh hear dat?”
“Shi call mi two faada dem name. Weh shi duh?” Spice added as she launched into her counteraction of Ce’cile for offending her ‘dancehall daddies’.
“Weh shi seh Bounty kill too stiff? Weh shi seh, shi nuh want Ninja man stab har wid knife?’ she said as she went into her second verse.
“Waieeeeeeeeeeeeeee a dis me did a talk bout pan u show seee it yah 😂😂😂😂😂😂 a how u find it,” Ce’Cile told Spice in the comments section of the birthday tribute. Spice responded teasingly: “Ce’cile, Mi find it Gal 🤣😂🤣😂😂”
Prior to Ninjaman’s life sentence being handed down in 2017, Spice though, had thanked the Dancehall veteran in July 2016 for helping her in the initial stages of her Dancehall career in a social media post.
“He was there before I got my big break, he’s one of the reason I’m so lyrical, he took me under his wings when I was trying to get out there. He taught me so much. Front teeth gold teeth don gorgon Ninja man thank you for believing in me I know you are proud. MI love yu like life,” she had written.
Ninja Man and his co-convicts were sentenced to life in prison in December 2017, for the 2009 murder of a Kingston man. He must serve at least 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
His son Janeil and fellow co-convict Dennis Clayton were each sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
According to The Gleaner newspaper, the prosecution led evidence, during Ninjaman’s five-week trial, that the killing stemmed from a domestic dispute in the St Andrew community of Lower Mall Road, a day before.
Ninjaman, his son and Clayton reportedly returned the following day with guns and other weapons where they chased the victim and another witness through a fence and, shot him in the side. The man later died.