Snow (musician)
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| Snow | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Darrin O'Brien |
| Born | 30 October 1969 |
| Origin | Toronto, Canada |
| Genres | Reggae, Dancehall |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Singing, toasting |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Virgin/EMI True North |
| Website | Snow |
Darrin O'Brien (born October 30, 1969), is a Canadian reggae musician, best-known by his stage name Snow. He is notable for the 1993 U.S. number-one hit single "Informer".[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Life and work
Snow was born and raised in the North York district of in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America. For much of his childhood, he lived in the Allenbury Gardens housing projects, and at the age of 16 moved to Ajax, Ontario.[citation needed]
Snow was discovered by a Jamaican-born DJ named Marvin Prince, while living in Ajax. The name Snow, a backronym for "Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy", was given to him by Marvin Prince. Prince took Snow to New York City and introduced him to MC Shan, who introduced them both to producer David Kenneth Eng and Steve Salem. Snow eventually signed a contract to record on their Motorjam/Elektra record label. His 1993 debut album was 12 Inches of Snow. MC Shan and Marvin Prince produced the entire album while Snow was imprisoned for a year on an assault charge.[citation needed]
Upon his release from prison, Snow's first single "Informer", written by Marvin Prince, became a chart topping hit. The album sold over 8 million records worldwide, with the single from the album "Informer" remaining #1 on the American Billboard charts for seven consecutive weeks. "Informer" has been recorded twice in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best selling reggae single in U.S. history, as well as the highest charting reggae single in history. A second single, "Girl I've Been Hurt", reached #19 on the Hot 100.[citation needed]
In 1995, Marvin Prince departed from Snow, and MC Shan worked on Snow's second album, Murder Love, which also featured production work by Junior Reid, Hurby "LuvBug" Azor, and others, as well as guest appearances by Junior Reid, Ninjaman, Half Pint, and others.[citation needed]
Snow also performed a version of "Moon Over Parma" as the theme song for later episodes of The Drew Carey Show starting in 2002.[citation needed]
Although Snow's subsequent albums performed poorly (except in Japan and Jamaica) after Marvin Prince's departure, he returned to the Canadian pop charts in 2000 with "Everybody Wants to Be Like You", and again in 2002 with "Legal", and worked on a new album with Red Zone and Trackmasters in 2007.[citation needed]
Nominated for nine Juno Awards, his one win was in 1994, the Best Reggae Recording for "Informer".[1]
[edit] Discography
| Year | Album | Chart positions[2] | Certifications[3] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Reggae | |||
| 1993 | 12 Inches of Snow
|
5 | 12 | 4 | |
| 1995 | Murder Love
|
- | - | 1 | |
| 1997 | Justuss
|
- | - | 12 | |
| 1999 | Cooler Conditions
|
- | - | - | |
| 2000 | Mind on the Moon
|
- | - | - | |
| 2002 | Two Hands Clapping
|
- | - | - | |
[edit] Compilations
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Reggae | |||
| 1997 | The Greatest Hits of Snow
|
- | - | - | |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 |
U.S. R&B | |||
| 1993 | "Informer" | 1 | 10 | 12 Inches of Snow |
| 1993 | "Girl I've Been Hurt" | 19 | 78 | |
| 1995 | "Si Wi Dem Nuh Know We" | - | - | Murder Love |
| 1997 | "Anything for You [All Star Cast Remix]" | - | - | Justuss |
| 1999 | "Someday Somehow" | - | - | Cooler Conditions |
| 1999 | "Everybody Wants To Be Like You" | - | - | Cooler Conditions & Mind on the Moon |
| "Jimmy Hat" | - | - | ||
| "Plumb Song" | - | - | ||
| 2000 | "Joke Thing" | - | - | Mind on the Moon |
| "Nothin' on Me" | - | - | ||
| 2002 | "Legal" | - | - | Two Hands Clapping |
