Words by Jesse Serwer, Photo by Martei Korley—
On a windy afternoon this August, LargeUp creative director/co-founder/chief photographer Martei Korley and myself traveled to the New Kingston apartment of Tommy Lee—or, as he’s now 100% officially known, Tommy Lee Sparta—to interview dancehall’s most talked-about new artist, for The Fader. We watched Jamaica’s 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 200-meter final at the Olympics (after which Usain Bolt gave TV cameras the Gaza salute while boasting “Man, psycho!”) in the artist’s living room, and talked about why his music is so dark (he’s got some pretty compelling reasons), his plans to make conscious tunes (sample his first one, “No Love” over at MissGaza.com), and his desire to be a role model for di youth dem. Read the full story, which appears in the magazine’s upcoming Issue #82, out on newsstands next week, here.
It’s already been a big week for Mr. Sparta on several fronts. Not only does he have his first feature in a major international magazine, but he also dropped his first EP yesterday. The Grim Reaper EP gathers recent hits “Psycho,” “Tom & Jerry” and “Uncle Demon,” the Vybz Kartel combination “Informer” and lesser known tunes like the quasi-soca “Gal Yuh Perfect.” Stream it below.