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Darrin Kenneth O'Brien (born October 30, 1969), better known by his stage name Snow, is a Canadian reggae musician. He is best known for his 1992 single "Informer", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.〔''Billboard'' (Allmusic.com ) (Retrieved March 3, 2010)〕 ==Life and work== Snow was born and raised in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario. For much of his childhood, he lived in the Allenbury Gardens public housing project, and at the age of 17, moved to Ajax, Ontario. Growing up in a diverse neighbourhood, O'Brien blended dancehall and reggae with rock and popular music to create his own unique style of music. In 1988, Jamaican-born DJ Marvin Prince witnessed O'Brien deejaying at a party and the two quickly became friends. For the next few years, they practiced in Prince's basement with Snow providing vocals and Prince scratching the turntables. While on a trip to New York City, Prince mentioned Snow to rap star M.C. Shan. Shan then invited Snow to New York and introduced him to music producers, David Eng and Steve Salem. Snow eventually signed a contract to record on their Motorjam/Elektra record label and in 1993 released his debut album ''12 Inches of Snow''.〔Snow's early background is provided by SNOW in 12 Inches of Snow, VHS (New York: A-Vision, 1993); SNOW, DVD, (Toronto: EMI Virgin Canada, 2003); and testimony from O'Brien, M.C. Shan and Prince is taken from Prince V. O'Brien, see: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13886394386652351580&q=Prince+v.+O%27BRIEN,+256+AD2d+208&hl=en&as_sdt=100000000000002&as_vis=1〕〔For further biographical information, see Dennis Hunt, "A Hot Reggae Artist Named Snow," ''Los Angeles Times'', March 25, 1993, 10C; Mary Talbot with Jennifer Boeth, "A Blizzard Headed Our Way," ''Newsweek'', March 29, 1993, 47; and Anne Trebbe, "Hard Core Jamaican Style Rap is Snow's Business," ''USA Today'', April 1, 1993, 3d.〕 While Snow served prison time for an attempted murder charge, M.C. Shan, David Eng, Steve Salem, and Marvin Prince promoted the recordings.〔For another source see, account of Prince introducing Snow to Shan, and Shan producing the album with Prince promoting it, see ''12 Inches of Snow'', VHS (New York: A-Vision, 1993). Years after Snow departed Prince and worked closely with David Kenneth Eng, Prince filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for discovering Snow and promoting his album. In 1999, a Toronto court overturned Prince's claims, citing he had "no viable claims" for compensation. See: Betsey Powell, "Snow Vindicated: Court Overturns 1.5 Million Judgement," ''Toronto Star'', January 21, 1999, 1.〕〔See Prince v. O'brien, 256 AD 2d 208 1998 683 NY 2d 504 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13886394386652351580&q=Prince+v.+O%27Brien,+234+A.D.2d&hl=en&as_sdt=100000000000002&as_vis=1〕 Upon his release from prison, Snow's first single "Informer", written by Snow, M.C. Shan, and Edmond Leary,〔According to the official credits, Darrin O'Brien, M.C. Shan, and Edmond Leary officially wrote Informer. See ''12 Inches of Snow'', CD (New York: East-West Records, 1993). Years later, after Snow and Prince had their falling out, Prince unsuccessfully sued Snow for compensation. See Betsey Powell, "Snow Vindicated: Court Overturns 1.5 Million Judgement," ''Toronto Star'', January 21, 1999, 1.〕 became a chart-topping hit. The album sold over 8 million records 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.〔For the Guinness Book of World Records, see: Mark Young and Chris McWhirter, ''The Guinness Book of Records 1999''(Guinness Records, 1998), 236–37. See Mike Ross, "Snow Alert," ''Jam'', October 14, 2000. Available Online at: http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/S/Snow/2000/10/14/749728.html. Accessed September 14, 2010. For a synopsis of the success of Informer see http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/snow/495020〕 In Japan, Snow received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's 1994 Gold Disc Award for Best New Artist.〔See: RIAJ Certification Awards, www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gdlist/pdf/gd1-20_list.pdf (Accessed November 3, 2010).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snow (musician)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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