In recent years, a number of Jamaican acts have achieved success in the lucrative Latin market in continents such as Central and South America. The list includes Shaggy (with hits like Banana, Lumbra and Tu Pum Pum), Charly Black (Gyal You a Party Animal), OMI (Cheerleader), and Sean Paul (Contra La Pared).

Incarcerated dancehall deejay Tommy Lee Sparta is looking to break into that market with Elegante. The song, a co-production between Boss Lady Muzik and Contractor Music, is to be released next month. It is a fusion of Latin/reggaeton and dancehall.

“The idea for the song Elegante was between myself, Tommy Lee and Contractor Music. Contractor Music has been working with me since I took over the management of Tommy Lee a couple years ago. We obtained some very useful data that Spotify’s Latin Market has around 68 million monthly users and this makes up 22 per cent of the global Spotify market. This was what encouraged us to tap into the Latin market,” Nicole Taban of Boss Lady Muzik told the Jamaica Observer.

She added, “We decided to explore the Latin market with an authentic Spanish artist who is also familiar with the dancehall and reggaeton genre. So Contractor went for Jah Fabio from Mexico who is signed to Jamaica’s Danger Zone label. Both Tommy and myself wanted to add a female artist as well who would bring some flare to the song so we put a young talent named Cashan on the track. The beat has real Spanish guitars and Latin tempo, along with a touch of Jamaican dancehall. It was co-produced by our label (Boss Lady Muzik) and Contractor Music.”

Taban said that since she took over the reins of Tommy Lee Sparta’s affairs, offers for shows from Latin, Central and South America have come in. The numbers from his YouTube views indicate a growing number of fans from those regions.

“In terms of views on YouTube, Tommy Lee Sparta has trended #1 several times in Jamaica and the analysis of the views reflect about 25 per cent coming from Latin America. The streaming platforms estimate similar percentages from these regions on Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music. We are very excited that Tommy Lee Sparta is emerging in the Latin-American market and we look forward to doing more crossover projects,” she said.

Tommy Lee Sparta’s most recent single is Power Struggle featuring Teejay, which was produced by Damage Musiq.

The deejay remains behind bars after he was charged with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. According to the police, the entertainer was arrested on December 14 after a vehicle in which he was travelling was intercepted by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Specialized Operations. The men in the vehicle were searched and a 9mm Glock pistol with an extended magazine containing 18 rounds of ammunition was found in the dancehall artiste’s waistband.

His case has been rescheduled for March 24. He last appeared via Zoom in an in-camera session of the Gun Court Division of the Home Circuit Court in Kingston on February 3.

Among his hit songs are Blessings, Rich Badness, Under Vibes and Buss a Blank.