Spragga Benz
Artist. Dancehall
- Active
- 1991-present
- Also known as
- Carlton Grant, Carlton Errington Grant
Spragga Benz is a deejay who rose in the mid-1990s, one of the young men the Rough Guide placed nearest to Buju Banton, Bounty Killer and Capleton, and later an actor, the star of Shottas.
Born Carlton Grant in Franklin Town, Kingston, he was "Spaghetti" to his friends for his tall, slim frame; "Benz" comes from the La Benz sound system, where he got his start. At a dubplate session there Buju Banton voiced two of four specials and suggested that Spragga do the others. The Stone Love single "Jump Up and Swear" brought him to wide attention, and his debut album, Jack It Up (1994), gathered it with Dave Kelly's "Things a Gwaan," Arrows' "Jack It Up" and Winston Riley's "You Could a Deal," along with hits for John John, Bobby Digital and Steely and Clevie, whose "Girls Hooray" was another favorite. He was among the deejays who scored on Kelly's "Pepper Seed" rhythm, and his duet with Wayne Wonder, "Bounce Along," might have crossed over, in the Rough Guide's view, with a major label behind it.
Capitol did sign him, for Uncommonly Smooth (1995), but dropped him when it sold poorly. He met Beenie Man on the clash album Two Badd DJs (1999), and "She Nuh Ready Yet (Hype Up)," from Fully Loaded (2000), was a number one in Jamaica. On screen he appeared as himself in Brooklyn Babylon before taking the lead in Shottas. Chiliagon (2019) went to the top of the Billboard reggae albums chart, and Endevors Reloaded, with Sean Paul, Sizzla and Tarrus Riley among its guests, followed in 2026. After police took the life of his seventeen-year-old son in 2008, he set up a foundation for young people in his community.
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Bobby Digital (producer)
- Steely & Clevie (producer)
- Winston Riley (producer)
- Dave Kelly (producer)
- Wee Pow (producer)
- Agent Sasco (mentee)
- Buju Banton (collaborator)
- Wayne Wonder (collaborator)
- Tanya Stephens (collaborator)
- Beenie Man (sparring partner)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 340.
- "Spragga Benz to Celebrate 'Endevors Reloaded,'" Jamaica Gleaner, September 28, 2026, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20260928/spragga-benz-celebrate-endevors-reloaded. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 340, also explains the name. Stephanie Lyew, "Time Waits on No Man: Spragga Benz," Jamaica Gleaner, September 20, 2020, https://past.jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20200920/time-waits-no-man-spragga-benz-dancehall-artiste-prepares-release-new and Gardy Stein, "1000 Sides of Spragga Benz: The Chiliagon Interview," Reggaeville, October 16, 2019, https://reggaeville.com/artist-details/spragga-benz/news/view/1000-sides-of-spragga-benz-the-chiliagon-interview give his full name, Carlton Errington Grant; the Rough Guide has Carlton Green.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 342, on Jack It Up (which the book does not date). "Spragga Benz to Celebrate 'Endevors Reloaded,'" on 1994 and "Girls Hooray."
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 316, 340.
- "Spragga Benz to Celebrate 'Endevors Reloaded.'" Lyew, "Time Waits on No Man," on the films and Chiliagon.
- "Spragga Benz to Celebrate Endevors Reloaded," Jamaica Gleaner, September 28, 2026, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20260928/spragga-benz-celebrate-endevors-reloaded.
