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Before Drake came along, Canada’s greatest contribution to hip hop was Snow. But the artist born Darrin Kenneth O’Brien was as much a reggae performer as he was a rapper. Snow was heavily influenced by the Jamaican families in his Toronto neighborhood.
Snow’s 1992 debut single, “Informer,” was #1 in many countries, including the U.S. Ironically, it only reached #9 in his native Canada. The song was nominated for Top Rap Hit at the 1993 Billboard Music Awards and won a Juno Award for Best Reggae Recording in 1994.
The video for “Informer” begins with Snow in a jail cell. He truly was behind bars on an attempted murder charge when the video was released. Fortunately for Mr. O’Brien and his career, he was cleared of the crime.