STAR of the Month : Tommy Lee became a father at age 14

Dancehall star Tommy Lee Sparta fathered his first child at the age of 14. Now, at 28, the artiste has seven children.

The artiste, whose given name is Leroy Russell, said that he dropped out of school at grade 10 in order to help take care of the two children he had fathered at that point.

Interestingly, Tommy Lee Sparta became a father when he was in first form at Anchovy High School, having impregnated a Grade 11 student.

"Me get yute from early, from me about 14. Me get me first yute from me inna seven grade," Tommy Lee Sparta said.

Describing himself as a razor, Tommy Lee Sparta said that he was forced to take responsibility.

"It nuh good fi get yute from early. It depends still, but me nuh regret it," Tommy Lee said.

He said his mother allowed his pregnant girlfriend to move into their household to prevent her young son from straying further.

In addition to picking up work on construction sites and hustling the streets for income, he used to climb ackee and breadfruit trees for food.

"You know ackee grow my kids dem when dem younger. Mi nuh ramp fi feed dem ackee. Ackee tree a bawl a daytime," the dancehall artiste joked.

Another source of sustenance for the family was the sea.

"We live pon the sea so we can get fish, enuh. Shrimp, conch, everything deh deh. It hard fi yu suffer deh so," he said of Flankers.

Overall, he said he grew up in a good family.

"Mi just come out hardcore, alone. One brother is a solider, another sister is a Christian, one brother is a manager at a hotel," Tommy Lee said.