Posts with the: toronto tag.

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Canada’s Snow Storms Onto The Reggae Scene

Source: Jennie Punter, www.thestar.com

The idea of a white guy from Canada named Snow singing reggae raised plenty of eyebrows when “Informer” came out in 1993.

Especially since the rise and fall of rapper – some would say novelty act – Vanilla Ice was still fresh in people’s minds.

But once most ears heard the Toronto dancehall reggae artist’s rapid-fire delivery (the video for “Informer” had subtitles) and smooth singing, there was no denying the music came from a real place.

His brushes with the law and general tough times in the housing project where he used to live in Toronto added to his mystique.

Otherwise known as Darrin O’Brien, Snow, 27, has made plenty of trips to Jamaica since dropping his multi-platinum single, “Informer” and his triple platinum (300,000 copies) debut album, 12 Inches Of Snow.

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Snow In The Forecast

Source: Mike Ross, jam.canoe.ca/Music/

Despite being dissed into that special section of hell only white rap stars seem to occupy, Snow – aka Darrin O’Brien – is relatively happy with the way his life has been going lately.

“The key word here is positive,” he says during a recent phone interview, his two-year-old daughter burbling in the background. “Positive music is the music of the ’90s.”

Say what?

This can’t be the same guy who wrote Informer, a bitter rant disguised as a Jamaican dance-hall ditty, from a jail cell. Since that first huge hit, there have been more newspaper articles about Snow’s alleged crimes than his rhymes – assault, attempted murder, uttering death threats, and we haven’t even touched on the traffic tickets.

Insisting that it’s all behind him now, Snow named both his daughter and his latest album Justuss, because, as he explains, “I never had justice before, so this was the first justice I really had. Justice was never in my corner. All the time I got in trouble.”

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Snow Aiming To Fly Again

Source: Betsy Powell, www.thestar.com

Four years ago Snow took the world’s music charts by storm with his tongue-twisting, rapid-fire rap hit Informer from his debut album, 12 Inches of Snow.

Snow’s story — his real name is Darrin O’Brien — spread quickly. The young thug, who had grown up in a Toronto housing project, had written the ditty from behind bars about the informer who ratted him out for a crime he denied committing.

O’Brien beat the rap — attempted murder charges were dropped — and emerged an international star after recording the prison-penned hit. If it sounds right out of a movie, check local listings. Well, not quite yet. Author George Seminara, who directed the Informer video, has written a screenplay about O’Brien’s life and apparently there’s high-level interest at Miramax, a production and distribution company owned by Disney.

‘I want that guy from Romeo and Juliet,’ says O’Brien, naming the young actor Leonardo DiCaprio as his No. 1 pick to play himself. Seminara would appear the man for the job. He’s made a name for himself chronicling the criminal deeds of the rich and famous. His most recent book is called Celebrity Mug Shots: Celebrities Under Arrest. O’Brien says the script, at least at this stage, is based on his life on the streets in his pre-Snow days.

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Snow Finally Chills Out

Source: Blair S. Watson, www.calgarysun.com

Apparently Snow has stopped stormin’. The Toronto-based rapper is best known for his chart-topping 1993 hit, Informer, and his reputation as violent-tempered lawbreaker. Now 27 and the father of a two-year-old daughter, Snow says his wild ways are a thing of the past.

‘I have been out of trouble and all that kind of stuff. I just think about goodness now,’ Snow says over the telephone. ‘I’ve grown up a lot more. I’m more my dad now. I’m thinkin’: Move out and get a white picket fence, but still live in Toronto. I look at life different now. When you have a little daughter, you’re mostly living it for her.’

Indeed, Snow — whose real name is Darrin O’Brien — named his third and latest album, Justuss, after his daughter. This is a pivotal album for Snow: His second album, Murder Love, sold considerably less than his 1.3-million-selling debut, 12 Inches of Snow. He needs to show he’s not a one-hit wonder. Not that he’s upset some shine has rubbed off of his once-rising star.

‘I’m not up on all that fame and glory,’ he says. ‘I don’t hang around and go to all them parties and stuff. I still have the same old friends, still live in Toronto. I’m the same old person.’

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Joey Boy Has Fun With Snow

Source: Mick Elmore, www.billboard.com

Local rapping sensation Joey Boy has become the country’s first artist to record with a well-known Westerner.

His song and video “Fun, Fun, Fun” with Canadian rapper Snow is set for release at the end of the month through Bakery Music — and Joey Boy returns the favour on Snow’s as-yet-untitled forthcoming album on EastWest.

Snow, the Canadian rapping success whose album “12 Inches Of Snow” spent 38 weeks on The Billboard 200 in 1993, had a large part to play on the Thai rapper’s third album. Joey Boy spent a few weeks with Snow in Toronto earlier this year recording and honing his rap technique. “At first we had no plans to sing together,” says Joey Boy. “We became friends. Then he asked me to sing a song with him.” Friendship led to the artists collaborating on tracks for each other’s albums (both albums are due in late November).

Snow sings “Fun, Fun, Fun” on Joey’s album and appears in a video now in it’s final stages of editing. Joey Boy joins Snow for “Joey And Me” on the latter’s album. Joey Boy says the the Toronto experience has improved his rapping and that the new album will highlight that difference, for it features a more American hip-hop and Jamaican reggae beat.

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