Posts with the: prison song tag.

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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.

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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.

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Snow Signs To Virgin Music Canada

Source: www.chartattack.com

Old skool multi-platinum rapper, Snow has been signed to Virgin Music Canada for a worldwide recording contract. The first record will be released sometime in October, and abroad in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France with the rest of Europe receiving it later in the spring of 2001.

The first single from Snow is titled, ‘Everybody Wants To Be Like You’ from the untitled record and already has label executives very excited. General manager of Virgin Music Canada, Bill Banham said that he’s very pleased to have Snow on their label where he can be his ‘creative self’ and show off his talent.

Deane Cameron, president of EMI Music Canada said that Snow is developing into a great songwriter and has a very exciting future. Snow had one successful album, 12 Inches of Snow, which was released in 1992 and sold over six million copies worldwide based on the success of ‘Informer.’

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Snow To Star In DeNiro Film

Source: Karen Bliss, jam.canoe.ca

Prison Song DVD coverDarrin O’Brien, aka Snow, joins Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige and Fat Joe as a co-star in Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Films production, Prison Song, featuring Q-Tip in the leading role. Each artist will contribute a song to the soundtrack.

The Toronto-based reggae-pop star, best known for his 1993 debut single, ‘Informer,’ which was a No. 1 U.S. hit, and whose three albums have sold seven millions copies worldwide, starts shooting today (Oct. 28) in Philadelphia. The first half of the film was shot in New York, chronicling the main character Elijah’s (Q-Tip) early years.

Directed by Darnell Martin (I Like It Like That), Snow plays McIntyre, a prison guard described by Snow as a rebel, mad at the system, doing what needs to be done to support his family. ‘I’m a guard that used to work as a construction worker and now all the jobs are getting taken by inmates who are working for less money, so I’m working as a prison guard. I’m head of these inmates that go out and do construction,’ explains Snow, who turns 30 on Saturday.

Snow, who has a criminal record for assault and served time in jail, jokes that he will prepare for the role by ‘reminiscing.’ He recounts how he recently ran into his former prison guard from his 1989 incarceration at Toronto’s East Detention Centre. ‘I went, Oh, I should hang around with you for a couple of months, just to see how you guys act.’

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