Mr. Vegas
Mr. Vegas , actually Clifford Smith (born September 29, 1975 in Kingston , Jamaica ) is a Jamaican dancehall singer and Singjay . In his vocals he mixes elements of rap and Jamaican toasting with singing to create his very own style.
Career
Originally, "Mr. Vegas “a nickname Clifford Smith got from his schoolmates while playing soccer, because his running style and his pink sports pants made them think of the go-go girls at Club Las Vegas in Kingston. However, he carried the name confidently as a nickname, and at the beginning of his career as a dancehall musician also as an artist name in the dancehall scene, which is otherwise often characterized by demonstrations of masculinity. Smith was already interested in music as a teenager, and in 1996 the producer Don Yute became aware of the young man and Mr. Vegas received an invitation to the first recordings in his studio.
The breakthrough came in 1997. Vegas was with a broken jaw in the hospital bed and listened Beenie Mans Who Am I . He left the hospital against medical advice to sing his own text on the riddim in the studio of new producer Jeremy Harding . The resulting song Nike Air became an instant hit in Jamaica.
While Nike Air was still at the top of the Jamaican music charts , Heads High was released which made it a success not only in Jamaica but soon in the UK and around the world. Heads High stayed in the American Billboard "Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks" charts for several weeks and came in at number 69, which was exceptional for a song of the late 1990s largely unknown music genre outside Jamaica. In 1998, Mr. Vegas released his eponymous debut album Heads High on Greensleeves Records . The success of the single continued with the album, reaching number 5 on the Billboard “Top Reggae Album” charts.
In 2001 the album Damn Right followed (with guest appearances by Shaggy and Big Yard ), which came up with slight tendencies towards hip-hop and R&B . The album sold well and climbed to number 2 on the Billboard reggae album chart. The song Hot Gal Today from this album , created in collaboration with Sean Paul , built on the success of Heads High .
The next big hit came in 2004 with Pull Up , which was also the title track of an album that came out that same year for his new label Delicious Vinyl. The song even made it into the general Billboard Hot 100 charts. The 2005 album Constant Spring attracted attention in Jamaica, but was not released in Germany. In 2007, the somewhat more R&B-heavy album Hot It Up was released , followed by other successful titles such as Hot Wuk and Taxi Fare .
In 2008, Mr. Vegas announced his retirement from the music business. He said he wanted to retire so that he could spend time with God and his children. Nevertheless, he remained musically active in the following years.
Recorded in 2011 and early 2012, a new studio album entitled Sweet Jamaica was released on May 29, 2012 via his newly founded record label "MV Music" .
In the course of Jamaica's 50 years of independence, Mr. Vegas completed a studio session in which he produced an all-star remix of his song The Voices of Sweet Jamaica . He invited a number of Jamaican artists, including Shaggy , U-Roy and Barrington Levy . All proceeds from the recording went to the children of the Mustard Seed Communities in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2012, Mr. Vegas received a MOBO Award nomination in the UK. Sweet Jamaica was listed in the "Top 50 Albums of 2012" by Google Music, "Complex Magazine" included it in the "Top 100 Albums of 2012" and iTunes also counts it among the "Best of 2012" albums in the Reggae category. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
He also received several awards at the 32nd IRAWMA edition on May 4, 2013. Sweet Jamaica was selected as “Song of the Year” and Bruk it Down as “Video of the Year”.
The album Reggae Euphoria was released in September 2014. It was part of a remix of Beyoncé's Standing on the Sun that was on the track list of her self-titled album. An album consisting of covers, titled Lovers Rock and Soul , was released in October 2015.
In August 2017 he released the song Badam in collaboration with the Dutch DJs and producers Hardwell and Henry Fong .
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Singles
- 1998: Heads High
- 2001: Damn Right
- 2004: Pull Up
- 2005: Constant Spring
- 2007: Hot It Up
- 2008: The Hits (Best Of)
- 2012: Sweet Jamaica (2 CDs - 1x Dancehall & 1x Reggae)
- 2013: Bruk It Down 2.0
- 2014: Reggae Euphoria
- 2015: Lovers Rock And Soul
- 2016: This Is Dancehall
Web links
- Mr. Vegas Music website
- Mr. Vegas on Myspace
- Mr. Vegas at Discogs (English)
- Mr. Vegas at Allmusic (English)
- Mr. Vegas at laut.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4
- ↑ a b c to laut.de , see under web links (seen on October 13, 2008)
- ↑ a b according to Allmusic-Guide , see under web links (seen on October 13, 2008)
- ↑ a b c Allmusic-Guide: Charts, Singles (as of October 13, 2008)
- ↑ a b Allmusic-Guide: Charts, Albums (as of October 13, 2008)
- ↑ Mr 'di do' Vegas quits music - Turns to God and kids ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Sadeke Brooks, The Jamaica Star online September 25, 2008 (viewed October 13, 2008)
- ↑ Chart sources: UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mr. Vegas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Clifford (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jamaican dancehall singer and singjay |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 29th September 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston , Jamaica |