Snow (musician)
Darrin Kenneth O'Brien (born October 30, 1969), known by his stage name Snow, is a Canadian reggae musician, rapper, and singer. His 1992 single "Informer" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[1]
For the Japanese pop singer, see Snow (Japanese singer).
Snow
Darrin Kenneth O'Brien
October 30, 1969
North York, Ontario, Canada
- Musician
- rapper
- singer
- Vocals
- guitar
1989–present
- Virgin
- EMI
- True North
- East West
- Motorjam/Elektra
Early life[edit]
Snow was born and raised in North York, Ontario (now part of Toronto), one of four children born to an Irish-Canadian cabdriver and a homemaker. Following his parents' divorce, he was raised by his mother in the Allenbury Gardens public housing project where, he says, he was fascinated with the gangster lifestyle, fell in with a tough Irish-Canadian group and became involved in a cycle of fighting, drinking and stealing.[2] He never learned to read properly and dropped out of school while in the 9th grade.[3] As he was growing up, he had a strong interest in rock music but, in 1983, there was an influx of Jamaican immigrants to the neighborhood, his interest turned to reggae music and he became adept at the use of the Jamaican dialect, or Jamaican Patois.[4][5] He developed his own style of music, by blending dancehall and reggae with rock and pop music.
In 1987, Snow served eight months of a one-year sentence after pleading guilty to beating a person with a crowbar during a bar brawl.[3] Upon his release in January 1988, the Jamaican-born DJ Marvin Prince saw O'Brien deejaying at a party and the two became friends. For the next few years, they practiced in Prince's basement, and played parties, with Snow providing vocals and Prince playing records. Prince, who would claim that he helped Snow refine his reggae singing and use of the Jamaican dialect, and that he came up with the name 'Snow', told the Los Angeles Times that they passed around a lot of tapes but could not get Snow signed because he was white.[2][6]
In 1988, Snow was involved in an incident at a North York pub, in which two people were stabbed "in the lane"; he was accused, and was subsequently charged with two counts of attempted murder. Rather than tell authorities who the perpetrator was, Snow served eight months in jail before a jury acquitted him on both counts. While he was in jail, he went to school and wrote music, which he performed for fellow inmates. One song was called "Informer".[3]
Television and film appearances[edit]
Drew Carey, a long time Snow fan, had Snow record a reggae version of The Drew Carey Show theme song, "Moon Over Parma", for the series' eighth and ninth seasons.[50]
In 1995, Snow appears as himself in concert performance in the movie Kla$h,[51] Snow performs onstage and does a scene in which he is interviewed by Jamaican media in the film directed by Bill Parker and produced by Kingston Pictures.
In 2001, Snow played a prison guard in the film Prison Song.[52] Snow appears as himself in the 2012 film The Movie Out Here produced by Canadian brewing company Kokanee and Alliance Films.
In 2015, Snow and his then-fiancée, Tara Elizabeth, appeared on a CBC webseries called True Dating Stories[53] to tell the story of one of their first dates: A walk in a ravine turned police operation. Their episode was the most watched and the entire series won Best Web Series at the Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival.
Ethnicity and Canadian identity[edit]
In Ethnicity, Politics, and Public Policy: Case Studies in Canadian Diversity, Rebecca J. Haines examined Snow as a symbol of Canadian ethnic identity. Instead of hiding his "whiteness" and "Canadian-ness", Haines argues, Snow proudly boasts of his Irish heritage and pride in his family, the O'Briens, and traces his reggae roots to the diverse community of Allenbury. While other artists, such as Snoop Dogg, don a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey because of its resemblance to cannabis, "in the video for his single "Anything for You", shot on location in Jamaica, the white Canadian reggae artist Snow is seen wearing the same jersey, perhaps in an attempt to proclaim his Canadian roots among the all-black cast of this video."[54]
Many reggae purists viewed Snow, along with Ini Kamoze, Diana King, UB40, Shaggy and Shabba Ranks, as another example of "watered-down" commercial reggae that rose to international popularity in the 1990s.[55] The sketch comedy show In Living Color parodied "Informer" by featuring fellow Canadian Jim Carrey as Snow in a sketch titled "Imposter".[56]
In 1996, WBLS New York disc jockey Pat McKay observed, "purists have a problem with a non-Jamaican doing reggae. But I choose to think of it as the greatest compliment to reggae culture, and Snow is a genuine, dedicated artist. He has a fine singing voice, he's a great writer, and he very generously includes other artists in all of his work. His authenticity amplifies the realities of his generation, and his sensitivity conjures up intimacy with all of his love songs."[57]
Personal life[edit]
In November 2009, Snow's then common-law wife and the subject of many of his songs, Tamei Edberg, was diagnosed with cancer; she died three weeks later on November 27, 2009, at age 41. With Tamei, Snow has a daughter, Justuss; she was born in April 1996 and he was inspired to name his third album after her. In 2018 Snow became a grandfather when Justuss gave birth to son Lyrix Tre. Justuss was featured on the song "J Dot" when she was six years old, on his sixth and most recent full-length album, Two Hands Clapping (2002). He has another daughter from another relationship who was born in January 1996, making her just three months older than Justuss.
On June 24, 2010, Snow held a fundraiser called "ClosURE For Cancer" at Alley Catz Restaurant in Toronto during which they raised $15,000.[58] Snow founded his own nongovernmental organization called Pure Snow NGO, which assists "tenants living in non-profit housing".[59]
In May 2016, Snow married model and actress Tara Elizabeth Singh at St. Anselm Catholic Church in Toronto. CTV covered the ceremony, and local radio station KISS 92.5 interviewed the newlyweds on The Roz and Mocha Show on May 22, 2016.[60]