DANCEHALL ARTIST TOMMY LEE SPARTA, SPLITS FROM HIS LONG-TIME MANAGER!

CONTROVERSIAL dancehall artist Tommy Lee Sparta and his longtime manager Junior ‘Heavy D’ Fraser have ended their professional ties.

“Heavy D Promotions no longer represents Tommy Lee Sparta. The mutual agreement has come to a close,” Heavy D told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Although tight-lipped about reasons for the split, Heavy D admitted that the artist’s repeated brushes with the law made it difficult to represent him.

Tommy Lee Sparta, whose given name is Leroy Russell, was prevented from performing on Reggae Sumfest’s Dancehall Night in July.

Senior Superintendent Steve McGregor, head of the St James police, said that the deejay is restricted from performing in the Area One Division, which comprises St James, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover.

McGregor stated that the entertainer’s name was linked to violence in Flanker, a crime-ridden area in St James, Sparta’s home parish. He is also currently charged with breaches of the Law Reform Act, following the alleged discovery of Lotto scam paraphernalia at his home in February last year.

This is the second high-profile client Heavy D has parted with recently. In August, he and deejay Gully Bop had an acrimonious split.

— By Simone Morgan