Snow joined DJ Bones, Kshema Francis, Digital Chris and Profi on the “Entertainment Buzz” where he speaks on his absence, his thoughts on current Dancehall music, reflecting on past singles, new projects, his creative process and influences, and much more.
Reggae 416
Reggae 416 chats to Snow about his return to the reggae scene and his new single Shame that features reggae veteran Mykal Rose.
Deejay Snow is back
FIFTEEN years is a lot of time to be absent from the music business. However, Canadian dancehall artiste Snow is not perturbed. He is in Jamaica for two weeks to kick-start his career and promote his single Shame.
“Everywhere I went in the Jamaican communities in Toronto, people were saying ‘Snow, you got come down’. So I just said ‘lemme get focused and get serious’. So I’m here, I hope to do some recordings… I would love to work with Ninja Man. I’m here to catch a vibe again,” he said.
Snow, 45, arrived in the island on Monday. His first stop was the Jamaica Observer office on Beechwood Avenue in St Andrew. Accompanying him was veteran deejay Ninja Man.
Released in the last quarter of 2014, Shame is a collab effort with former Black Uhuru singer Mykal Rose. The track is produced by Florida-based Kent Jones and Cool & Dre.
“Shame is about where I was in my life emotionally,” he said.
Snow (given name Darrin Kenneth O’Brien) said his disappearance from the ‘game’ was due to personal challenges.
Daddy Snow Upping His Profile
International recording artiste Daddy Snow has been upping his profile by performing at large-scale hip-hop events in Canada. One of those shows was the Amnesia 15th Year Anniversary Party at Sound Academy in Toronto.
Snow performed alongside Evelyn ‘Champaine’ King, Grand Master Meli Mel, Maestro, Monie Love, Special Ed, Scratch from the legendary roots group, Digital Underground, Greg Nice, Chip Fun, and Lords of the Underground.
“The show was an old-school hip-hop show. The response was crazy when Snow walked out and ripped it up. He still has that energy and everybody was loving the vibe. Snow’s brand of music is very strong internationally,” Juan Diaz, one of the label executives of Bugatti Music Entertainment, which is managing Snow’s career, said.
Two weeks ago, Snow made a surprise cameo during the show dubbed ‘Flow Big Night’, organised by Canada’s first urban contemporary station, Flow 93.5 FM.
“The headliner was Ashanti, and right before she went on, Flow FM brought Snow for a surprise performance, and he ripped it up,” Diaz said. “One of the cool things that happen that night was after Snow performed. Someone from the radio station was telling us how his son has a speech impediment and they are using one of Snow’s songs to treat the kids in therapy. By singing Snow’s song! We’re going to get more info on this kid and we are going to give him a visit.”
Flow’s Big Night
Snow performs live at Flow’s Big Night.