Little Lenny’s Sweet 16 hit
The Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk continues with the fifth in its series during Child Month highlighting some of Jamaica’s young performers who shot to stardom.
IN 1989, a 16-yearold Kingston College student named Nigel Grandison shot to fame as Little Lenny. His controversial song Gun Inna Baggy ruled the dancehall while the radio version, Healthy Body, spent four weeks at number one on the RJR Top 40 and JBC Radio One Top 30 charts.
The success of Healthy Body not only resulted in unwarranted attention at the deejay’s alma mater (he was expelled from Kingston College), it also opened doors for the teenager, including a record deal with Columbia Records.
Prior to Healthy Body, Little Lenny created ripples for Penthouse Records with My Shining Star, a cover of American R&B group Tavares’s Guiding Star, which featured singer Professor Grizzly. He also had a modest hit with a cover of Janet Jackson’s Let’s Wait A While.
In a 2020 interview with the Jamaica Observer, Little Lenny shared the inspiration for Gun Inna Baggy.
“I was getting ready to go to school and a friend of mine stopped by and asked me for $40. He said he wanted to go to the doctor because a girl ‘shot’ him. I was laughing because I couldn’t help myself. I took one of my school books and started writing the song right then and there,” Little Lenny recalled.
‘Shot’ refers to the sexually transmitted gonorrhoea.
“At the time, I was done with music and I was focusing on school. Tony Kelly came to me sometime after and said he had a friend who was starting up a record label named Shocking Vibes and asked if I wanted to record for the label. I told him I wasn’t going,” he said.
Little Lenny changed his mind and recorded Gun Inna Baggy at Penthouse studio with producer and Shocking Vibes boss Patrick Roberts. It was released with another Shocking Vibes imprint called Rude Bwoy.
“It didn’t strike many at the time that it was a hit song while we were in the recording session. Tony Kelly played the drums while Danny Bassie played the bass guitar,” said Little Lenny.
Gun Inna Baggy’s break came when it was tested at a dance by sound system Gemini Disco.
“In dem times you cut the song on dub and take it to the sounds to test it out. I took it to Gemini at a dance and it was pulled up several times. When the song took off, persons felt that it was disrespecting females, but the truth is, it wasn’t intended to,” Little Lenny disclosed.
To soothe the controversy, he decided to cut a radio-friendly version called Healthy Body. After that single took off, he scored other hits including Bum Flick, and All Fruits Ripe.
After a stint as an original member of the Shocking Vibes Crew with Beenie Man and Little Kirk, he went solo.
Today, Little Lenny is a businessman. Last year he teamed with Little Kirk on the single Same Whine.