Snow

Darrin Kenneth O'Brien (born October 30, 1969), known by his stage name Snow, is a Canadian reggae musician, rapper, and singer.

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.

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.

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.

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".

On a trip to New York, Prince was able to pitch Snow's music to rap star M.C. Shan.

The first agreement, Prince alleged, occurred "in 1990, when the two men began working together on songs in Prince's basement and he "allegedly suggested to" Snow, "if something comes out of this, let's be partners." The second oral agreement, according to Prince, took place in August 1991 while Snow auditioned for Shan. Snow referred to Prince as his partner in a promotional video, but claimed to have used the term "only in the slang sense." Prince "admitted that these discussions were not concrete; the parties never organized a formal business plan, nor was plaintiff in New York to advance defendant's career."

Shan, Eng, and Salem testified that they were unaware of a partnership between Snow and Prince, and Shan denied that Prince co-produced 12 Inches of Snow and co-wrote the five songs in question.

"Informer", for example, was officially written by Snow, Shan, and composer Edmond Leary.

Years later, after Snow and Prince had their falling out, Prince unsuccessfully sued Snow for compensation.

While Prince had initially been awarded a $1.5 million settlement by a jury, the court overturned the original ruling and dismissed Prince's suit on the grounds that he had "no viable claims" to a partnership with Snow.

In 1991, Snow went to New York, where Shan introduced him to music producers David Eng and Steve Salem.

Snow signed a contract to record on their Motorjam/Elektra record label, then they recorded his debut album 12 Inches of Snow.

The album had to be recorded quickly, because Snow had to return to Canada and report to prison.

His 1992 single "Informer" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

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.

He never learned to read properly and dropped out of school while in the 9th grade.

12 Inches of Snow was released in 1992, while Snow was in prison.

Shan, Eng, Salem, and Prince promoted it and, by the time Snow was released, the single "Informer", was a chart-topping hit.

12 Inches of Snow sold over 8 million copies worldwide, with the "Informer" single remaining number 1 on the American Billboard charts for seven consecutive weeks.

"Informer" has been recorded twice in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling reggae single in US history, as well as the highest charting reggae single in history.

A second single, "Girl I've Been Hurt", reached Number 19 on the Hot 100.

In Japan, Snow received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's 1994 Japan Gold Disc Award for New Artist of the Year.

One of Snow's neighbouring Jamaican families, the Browns, first introduced him to reggae, Snow began borrowing and ordering reggae dub tapes to perform over.

After he befriended Marvin Prince, Prince gave O'Brien the stage name Snow with a phrased backronym meaning "Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy".

Snow never claimed the title himself and simply continued to perform with the stage name of Snow.

The origin of Snow's stage name would become a central issue in the legal battle between Prince and O'Brien.

While touring as Snow's DJ in December 1994, Marvin Prince abruptly left the tour after discovering that Snow, according to court documents, "was receiving more money from management than he was."

While listed as only the writer of the song "Runway" on the 12 Inches of Snow album, Prince claimed to have co-written five songs and co-produced the album with Shan, Eng, and Salem.

Prince alleged that Eng and Salem provided "a draft of a multi-album production and recording agreement" to both Snow and himself.

Unable to understand the contract, Snow allegedly "sent a copy to his mother to get legal advice from her friend" and Prince "never saw the agreement again."

Moreover, Prince claimed to have entered an "oral agreement" with Snow implying that the two would share profits from the album "fifty-fifty".

In a 2019 interview, Prince recounted his history with Snow and described how he mentored, recorded demos for, scheduled showcase performances for, and ultimately, arranged for Snow to audition for MC Shan.