Post month: October 2000

Date :

After The Snow Falls

Source: Wes Smiderle, www.ottawacitizen.com

After three albums, one seven-year-old hit single, a stint in jail and a new daughter, Snow is eager to embark on a comeback.

The 31-year-old singer is promoting his fourth CD, Mind on the Moon, released earlier this month. Besides being his first new album in more than three years, the disc is also Snow’s debut effort with the EMI-Virgin label.

The new material showcases a noticeably lighter style presented by what is essentially a brand new Snow.

”This is my second chance,” says the singer, who developed his brand of reggae patter while growing up in the ”projects” of North York. ”Everything’s coming together … I’m in positive mode now.”

Although he insists he never considered himself a rapper, Snow established a reputation in the early ’90s for his rapid-fire, gangster-style performance. His first and only major hit was 1993’s Informer, a rap tune delivered in a reggae- style Jamaican patois.

Continue reading

Date :

Snow Alert

Source: Mike Ross, jam.canoe.ca

Snow has never understood the ‘white rapper’ label he’s worn all these years. ‘I’ve never been a rapper,’ he says. ‘Eminem’s a rapper. I’m on the borderline. I’m not a reggae artist or a pop artist or a hip-hop artist. It’s just everything mixed.’

If there’s still any doubt, it should be banished with the release of Mind on the Moon. Snow is now a singer all the way. While there are traces of his reggae-rapping style, called ‘sing-J,’ he has a surprisingly high and airy singing voice, well suited to the album’s light pop sheen, marked mainly by (real) acoustic guitars. The artist known as Darrin O’Brien – an Irishman who got into reggae growing up in the ‘projects’ of North York, Ont. – didn’t plan to be a pop singer, but fans have embraced his new sound.

Everybody Wants To Be Like You is Snow’s first big hit since 1993’s Informer. It might as well be a different artist. Snow’s music isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Yes, this will be another one of those “bad-boy-gone-good” stories.

Continue reading