When I think of Spartans the first thing that comes to mind is Warner Bros 2008 box of office movie 300. The movie depicted the ancient Greek’s civilization with their ruthless and fearsome army. Their leader Leonidas was the epitome of the man’s man and I assume that is why dancehall’s Tommy Lee has adopted the Spartan moniker.
Known as Tommy Lee Sparta, Leroy Russell Junior hails from Montego Bay. He is recognized as one of the hardcore dancehall deejays in Jamaica. Tommy Lee sings about the life of a Spartan in his latest track ‘Life of a Spartan’. It is not a rounded view on the ancient civilization. However, he highlights the aspects he mostly reveres and the gruesome things of battles and domination. Tommy sings about loss in battle and relates it to some of the losses he has encountered in his life to the gangster lifestyle in Jamaica.
Vybz and Chronic Law are people you can compare Tommy Lee to as his style is that of grittiness and no holds barred lyrics. He also has the Gothic theme to his personae something that is already very random and unrelated to Jamaican culture.
Tommy Lee has definitely put himself out there in 2020 with a string of tracks. He has released Rich Badness, and released music videos for Under Vibes and Hard Ears. Hot collaborations have also been a huge hit for Tommy as he paired up with the Worl’Boss in Chop Chop.
Life of a Spartan is a good marker so far this year. I am sure there is more Gothic dancehall to follow. Since its release (28 February), the track has garnered over 200k views. It is also ranked number 7 on trending tracks in Jamaica. We look forward to more from the Spartan. And it’s good to know there is a lot of firepower in the dancehall genre.
