Matterhorn Says Tommy Lee Sparta Is Biggest Dancehall Star In Continental Europe
Incarcerated Dancehall star Tommy Lee Sparta, unbeknownst to many Jamaicans, is perhaps the biggest Dancehall star in Continental Europe, according to veteran Dancehall music selector Tony Matterhorn.
Speaking in an interview with Jaii Frais and Chevi on the Let’s Be Honest podcast which was shared on Wednesday on YouTube, Matterhorn said that the Spartan Soldier artist, was like a magnet to many Europeans, due to his Gothic image/aesthetics.
“Mi an Tommy Lee guh a Europe. Tommy Lee bigga dan half a Jamaica inna Europe because of his style – the Gothic thing, because that’s originally Europe that – than our Dancehall. A pop/rock dem into and he is like pop/rock star,” Matterhorn said.
“Suh him woulda have a bigger clout dan anyone a dem. Nuff man weh yuh si a talk bout dem bigga, dem nuh big. Dem nuh good. Caw if dem did dat good, yuh woulda deh inna Europe every minute,” he added.
Considered by many as the Gothic deejay of Dancehall, Tommy Lee Sparta made his first trip to Continental Europe in 2011.
Interestingly, Tommy Lee did his first-ever European Tour in 2013, on the heels of the release of his child-centered Captain Sparta single, which featured characters from various children’s television shows such as Dora the Explorer and Jimmy Neutron, surprising his critics with his drastic about-turn from his Uncle Demon persona.
That tour, which spanned six weeks, saw him making appearances in Holland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and England.
He also had the distinction of being the first Dancehall artist to be booked to perform at a children’s show, which took place at the Sherholmens Youth Centre in Sweden for 12 to 17-year-olds. At the time, Sparta’s manager Heavy D, had said that the youngsters in Sweden had been requesting Tommy Lee Sparta for quite a while.
“They really love Tommy Lee,” Heavy D had told The Star tabloid.
In August 2016, Sparta, while preparing for his seventh European trip which had been set for that October, told the Jamaica Observer himself, that “his brand of dark Dancehall had a massive “underground following” there and that for the last five years he had been visiting Europe sometimes twice annually.
“Every time it get bigger; more people drawn to the thing,” Sparta had said at the time.
“The first time mi go was 2011 an’ each time wi go back di thing jus’ get bigger,” the Shook artiste had said. At that time, the Montego Bay native’s two-week tour spanned Stockholm, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France.
In 2018, Tommy Lee Sparta made another tour of the mainland performing in places such as Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and Denmark.
Tommy Lee was arrested last December after he was found with an illegal firearm along Holborn Road in New Kingston. In March his year, he was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of three years for illegal possession of firearm and two years for illegal possession of ammunition after pleading guilty to the offences. One month later, the firearm was reportedly linked to two murders.
Prior to his arrest, he had announced that he would have been embarking on his Under Vibes Tour which was scheduled to run from March 1 to May 12, 2021, with shows in Europe in countries such as Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, The UK, Switzerland, and France. He was also booked to perform in African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea.
Sparta came to national prominence after Vybz Kartel noticed his musical acumen during a performance in Montego Bay. He became an official member of the Portmore Empire in March 2010 where he recorded his first tracks Holding Out The Pressure on the Gangsta City Riddim, Gypsy on the Teeza riddim and Money Make Friends. His first major performance was at Reggae Sumfest 2011 alongside Kartel and other members of the Gaza Empire.