Snow

While reggae may not historically be known as Canada’s most popular genre, Nova Scotia native Darrin Kenneth O’Brien, better known under the stage name Snow, released some of the genre’s best loved ‘90s hits. His 1992 single ‘Informer’ has since become the highest-charting reggae single in history, and some two decades on, Snow continues to contribute his vocal talents to Top 10 charting singles released around the world.

‘Informer’ has since taken on a life of its own as a classic early-90s party hit. Snow’s debut album 12 Inches of Snow, produced and released in collaboration with MC Shan and Elektra Records, sold a staggering 8 million copies worldwide and thrust their fusion of reggae, hip-hop and pop into the charts all over the world. This instant stardom not only made Snow a household name, but brought him opportunities to work with some of reggae’s most revered artists, including Buju Banton, Junior Reid and Ninjaman, on his 1995 follow-up Murder Love. While not quite as commercially successful, the record gained crucial support in Jamaica, with singles like ‘Anything For You’ and ‘Si Wi Dem Nuh Know We’ reaching the Top 10, and ‘Sexy Girl’ spending sixteen weeks in the Japanese Top Singles chart.

Several Canadian chart-topping singles and a collaboration with Black Uruhu’s Mykal Rose later, Snow shows no signs of walking away from music. His appearance on Con Calma, a reinterpretation of ‘Informer’ by Latin superstar Daddy Yankee, has received more than 800 million plays on YouTube alone, once again bringing Snow’s inimitable vocals to the forefront of global popular culture.