Snow (musician)
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| Snow | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Darrin O'Brien |
| Born | October 30, 1969 |
| Origin | Toronto, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Reggae, Pop-rap |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Singing, rapping |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Label(s) | Virgin/EMI |
| Associated acts | MC Shan, Marvin Prince, Junior Reid, Ninjaman |
| Website | www.snowontheweb.com |
Darrin O'Brien (born October 30, 1969), known by his stage name Snow, is an award-winning Canadian reggae musician from Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for the 1993 number-one hit single "Informer".
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[edit] Life and work
Snow was born and raised in the North York district of Toronto. For much of his childhood, he lived in the Allenbury Gardens housing projects, and at the age of 16 moved to Ajax, Ontario.
Snow was discovered by a Jamaican-born DJ named Marvin Prince, while living in Ajax. The name Snow, which means "Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy", was given to him by Marvin Prince. Marvin 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. Upon his release from prison, Snow's first single "Informer" became a chart topping hit and spent seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single, "Girl I've Been Hurt", reached #19 on the Hot 100.
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, HalfPint and others.
Although Snow's subsequent albums performed poorly after Marvin Prince's departure, except in Japan and Jamaica, he returned to the Canadian pop charts in 2000 with "Everybody Wants to Be Like You", and again in 2002 with "Legal", and is working on a new album with Red Zone and Trackmasters that was due out in 2007.
Nominated for nine Juno Awards, his one win was in 1994, the Best Reggae Recording for "Informer".[1]
[edit] Discography
- 12 Inches of Snow (1993) US #5, Platinum
- Murder Love (1995)
- The Greatest Hits of Snow (1996)
- Justuss (1997)
- Cooler Conditions (1999)
- Mind on the Moon (2000)
- Two Hands Clapping (2002)
- Plouffe Is My Hero (2008)
