Snow (musician)
Snow (* the 30th October 1969 in Toronto , Ontario as Darrin Kenneth O'Brien ) is a Canadian reggae toaster . With his most successful song Informer he reached first place in the charts in the USA and Germany in the spring of 1993. With eight million pieces sold, Informer is one of the most successful ragga singles in music history.
life and career
O'Brien grew up in a largely Irish-Canadian neighborhood of Toronto . The first records he heard were by Kiss , Ozzy Osbourne , Queen and The Police from his mother's collection. In his youth, increasing numbers of Jamaican immigrants moved to the area, through which he came into contact with reggae , dub and dancehall records. He himself got used to the patois , Jamaican English, among his friends at the time and under the influence of music .
During this time he came into constant conflict with the police. He was charged with murder under questionable circumstances and acquitted - this is the story he takes up in Informer . While on parole, MC Shan discovered him in New York City and produced his first maxi single with him, which became a worldwide hit. The last verse in this song was rapped by MC Shan himself.
Snow was convicted of assault shortly after completing his first album, 12 Inches of Snow . He saw Informer's release and success in prison. After eight months he was released from prison, left North America and traveled extensively across Europe.
In early 1995 his second album Murder Love was released , but it was only able to convince in Japan. The albums Justuss (1997), Cooler Conditions (1999) and Mind on the Moon (2000) should no longer follow the success of the first album.
His next album was Two Hands Clapping , which was released on November 19, 2002 on the Virgin Music Canada label. At least with the single Legal he achieved a top 20 hit in his home country after almost ten years. Producers of Two Hands Clapping were Laney Stewart and Brent Setterington.
Since the end of 2004 he has been allowed to enter the USA again.
In September 2014, O'Brien released the collaboration track Shame with Mykal Rose and has lived in Jamaica ever since .
Discography
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1993 | 12 inches of snow |
DE5 (21 weeks) DE |
AT7 (14 weeks) AT |
CH10 (13 weeks) CH |
UK41 (4 weeks) UK |
US5
platinum
(38 weeks)US |
CA3 × 3
(… Where.)CA |
First published: January 19, 1993
|
2000 | Mind on the moon | - | - | - | - | - |
CA61 (... weeks) CA |
First published: October 2000
|
More albums
- 1993: remixes
- 1995: Murder Love
- 1997: Justuss
- 1999: Cooler Conditions
- 2002: Two Hands Clapping
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1993 | Informer 12 inches of snow |
DE1
platinum
(23 weeks)DE |
AT2
gold
(17 weeks)AT |
CH1 (19 weeks) CH |
UK2
silver
(15 weeks)UK |
US1
platinum
(25 weeks)US |
CA9 (... weeks) CA |
|
Girl I've Been Hurt 12 Inches of Snow |
- | - | - |
UK48 (2 weeks) UK |
US19 (17 weeks) US |
CA28 (... weeks) CA |
First published: April 1993
|
|
Lonely Monday Morning 12 Inches of Snow |
DE43 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: July 1993
|
|
Uhh in You 12 Inches of Snow |
- | - | - |
UK67 (1 week) UK |
- | - |
First published: August 1993
|
|
1995 | Sexy Girl Murder Love |
- | - | - | - | - |
CA80 (... weeks) CA |
|
2000 | Everybody Wants to Be Like You Cooler Conditions / Mind on the Moon |
- | - | - | - | - |
CA2 (... weeks) CA |
|
2002 | Legal two hands clapping |
- | - | - | - | - |
CA13 (... weeks) CA |
|
2019 | Con calma |
DE6th
gold
(34 weeks)DE |
AT7 (30 weeks) AT |
CH2 (45 weeks) CH |
UK66
silver
(10 weeks)UK |
US22nd × 4
(25 weeks)US |
CA6th × 3
(29 weeks)CA |
First published: January 25, 2019
Daddy Yankee feat. Snow |
More singles
- 1993: runway
- 1994: Stallion
- 1994: Si Wi Dem Nuh Know We
- 1995: Anything for You
- 1996: Boom Boom Boogie
- 1996: Me and Joey (feat.Joey Boy)
- 1996: Steedly Woa
- 1997: If This World Were Mine
- 1999: Someday Somehow
- 2002: Dancin Alone
- 2014: Shame
- 2018: Get You The Moon (Kina feat.Snow, UK:silver, US: platinum)
Awards for music sales
|
|
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
Country / Region | silver | gold | platinum | diamond | Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
||||||
Australia (ARIA) | - | - | 2 × platinum2 | - | 140,000 | aria.com.au |
Belgium (BEA) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 40,000 | ultratop.be |
Brazil (PMB) | - | - | 2 × platinum2 | - | 80,000 | pro-musicabr.org.br |
Denmark (IFPI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 45,000 | ifpi.dk |
Germany (BVMI) | - | gold1 | platinum1 | - | 700,000 | musikindustrie.de |
France (SNEP) | - | - | - | diamond1 | 333,333 | snepmusique.com |
Italy (FIMI) | - | - | 4 × platinum4th | - | 200,000 | fimi.it |
Japan (RIAJ) | - | 2 × gold2 | 2 × platinum2 | - | 600,000 | riaj.or.jp |
Canada (MC) | - | - | 6 × platinum6th | - | 540,000 | musiccanada.com |
Mexico (AMPROFON) | - | gold1 | platinum1 | - | 90,000 | amprofon.com.mx |
New Zealand (RMNZ) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 15,000 | nztop40.co.nz |
Netherlands (NVPI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 50,000 | nvpi.nl |
Austria (IFPI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 25,000 | ifpi.at |
Poland (ZPAV) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 20,000 | bestsellery.zpav.pl |
Portugal (AFP) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 10,000 | Individual evidence |
Spain (Promusicae) | - | gold1 | 6 × platinum6th | - | 290,000 | elportaldemusica.es |
United States (RIAA) | - | - | 4 × platinum4th | 4 × diamond4th | 3,580,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 3 × silver3 | - | - | - | 600,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 3 × silver3 | 8 × gold8th | 32 × platinum32 | 5 × diamond5 |
Web links
- Works by and about Snow in the catalog of the German National Library
- Snow at Allmusic (English)
- Snow at Discogs (English)
- Discography on rateyourmusic.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Chart sources: Singles albums US / CA
- ^ Platinum for Con calma in Portugal
- ↑ 2 × platinum for Informer in Australia
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Snow |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | O'Brien, Darrin Kenneth (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian rapper |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 30, 1969 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Toronto |