Dancehall Queen Spice Breaks Down Every Song On Her Debut Album “10”

Queen of Dancehall and Love And Hip Hop: Atlanta star Spice will finally release her long-awaited debut album, 10, this Friday through VP Records.  In the meantime, the Queen has shared with DancehallMag some personal insight about the project, by breaking down every song in the 15 track collection and talking us through what each of them means to her.

For Spice, the title of album 10 represents the zenith of a long journey.  The LP is said to showcase her growth and unmatched talent, as well as her witty songwriting skills and versatility in blending genres to fuse hardcore Dancehall with Soca, Pop, R&B, and EDM sounds.

In a sneak peek, we found that on some of the songs, she is intensely personal, revealing her life story like never before. On others, her lyrics are as fun and raw as ever, with the vivid descriptions of bedroom antics that have become her signature style of encouraging women to embrace their sexual prowess. She also surprises, laying down top-tier vocals and bares her vulnerabilities in a heartfelt love song over a classic Roots Reggae riddim.

Here is Spice’s track-by-track breakdown of her debut album:

1. S.P.I.C.E.

“I’m the type of person who never forgets where I’m coming from. I’m always talking about my struggles, how I started in music, and who helped me along the way. A lot of people don’t know that I’ve been a part of the Dancehall culture for two decades having started in 1999.”

2. Send It Up

“Sup’m bout that song yah, once it starts playing, I just want to get up and wine. It does something to my body. It makes me just wanna bruck out—the riddim, the beat. You haffi sen it all the way up. Because that is something that I myself just love, when him sen’ it up. I am responsible for a lot of women gyrating—which equals female empowerment.”

3. Go Down Deh Featuring Shaggy and Sean Paul

“This song has opened so many doors for me and I’m super grateful to know that I have two legends on this collaboration with me. I’ve been hashtagging #TeamJamaica and #TeamDancehall because we came together in unison to represent Jamaica and Dancehall culture, So big up Sean Paul and big up to Shaggy.”

4. So Mi Like It

“I was asked to pick one song from the past 10 years to go on the album. It was a hard decision, but So Mi Like It just hit different. I think by the time ‘10’ drops, the video will reach over 100 million YouTube views. You have to wine when you hear it. You have to just enjoy yourself. It gives you that burst of energy.”

5. Size Matters

“As a female in dancehall sometimes I have to put them in their place. You know how men are with us. Somebody’s got to put the pressure on guys to make sure they can perform up to standard, I feel like it had to be said.”

6. Po-Po Featuring Nicho

“Of course, you know I’ve done Black Hypocrisy before, but now this song is talking about Black Lives Matter and I’m featuring my 14-year-old son for the first time. He’s a black youth living in America. So, I had to teach him a lot about when the police stop you. I had to give him the history and I had to teach him about the whole Black Lives Matter movement. He wanted to do a song and that’s how we got the idea. He’s 14 years old and he’s on my record about justice. I’m so proud of him.”

7. Don’t Care

“This song has nothing to do with ‘wine up’ and ‘bruk out’ it’s just showing my diversity. There’s a line in the song about how he must ‘believe my head a yam.’ In Jamaica, a ‘yamhead’ is a girl who knows that she’s getting used or played by a man and continues to allow him to play her. This song is basically talking about issues that happen in relationships all the time.”

8. On Your Mind Featuring Olaf Blackwood

“We all wanna have that person who has you on their mind all the time. This is one of those tender tunes about somebody who wants to give you reasons to smile.”

9. Top

“Don’t get it twisted. It’s not about being on top of a man—not this time. This is a song that motivates me. I play this song when I get up in the morning, and it reminds me that I need to stay on top of my game, not paying haters no mind, just staying focused and on top of your dreams. I’m on top and I want to stay there!”

10. Love Her

“On this song, I sing ‘Girl, I love everything about you,’ and everybody keeps asking me who I’m singing about. All I can say is that I love this girl. I talk about her features, everything I love about this girl. She’s very brilliant. That’s all I’m going to say for now.”

11. Frenz

“This song is very close to me because I wrote it from real-life experience. When Angela and I went in the studio she said, ‘What are we gonna do today?’ And I said ‘I wanna talk about friends.’ At some point in your life, someone must have betrayed you—and so I feel like everybody can relate to this song, whether it’s the betrayal of a boyfriend, girlfriend, or a best friend.”

12. Different Shit Featuring Melissa Musique

“When you have friends that betray you, you wanna move on to a different level. So, this song says, ‘we on some different shit.’ This song is to remind you that you’re on a different level now, on a positive, better energy. You nah have time to think about haters and people who have that negative spirit. Like the song says, ‘Still on the grind, can’t waste my time.’”

13. Fit

“This song makes me wanna get up and dance or go to the gym. It feels like you’re in the carnival.”

14.  Bad Girl Featuring Shaggy

“Did you hear me singing on this song? Did you really listen to me singing this song? I am so happy about this song! My thing is, if you’re working with a legend like Shaggy, and get him to do a song with you, why not ask for two? (laughs) I am definitely a ‘bad girl’ and the singing I did on this song? I definitely sound like a bad girl.”

15.  Nitey

“You want it every single day. You want that pleasure. I’ll take it Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you’ll take it on Friday. And the song literally explains itself.”

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The album 10 will arrive on Jamaica’s Independence Day, which is also Spice’s 39th birthday. The digital release will be commemorated by a coveted Spotify billboard in Times Square and followed by the physical album as well as a vinyl edition of her hit single, Go Down Deh that features Shaggy and Sean Paul on August 27.

It was executive produced by Shaggy, a Grammy Award-winning, chart-topping, multi-platinum hitmaker. 10 also includes production from the likes of Supa Dups, (whose credits include Rihanna, Eminem, and Bruno Mars) and Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor, (whose credits include Burna Boy and Drake), as well as Costantin “Costi” Ionita, Shane Hoosong, Ainsley Morris, among others.