Featuring rapper Q-Tip in the leading role, Snow plays a rebellious prison guard mad at the system, doing what needs to be done to support his family.
"I'm head of these inmates that go out and do construction," explains Snow, whose real name is Darrin O'Brien.
Snow first acted in Tight: The Motion Picture, a Canadian independent film.
The Toronto singer, best known for his 1993 reggae hit, "Informer" (from his multi-million-selling debut 12 Inches of Snow), about a stool-pigeon that landed him in jail, jokes that he prepared for the role by "reminiscing."
His fourth and latest album, Mind On The Moon, is a sweet-sounding mix of anti-love songs and crazy feelings, with just enough of his signature rapid-fire toasting that he doesn't altogether abandon his reggae roots. "It's not pop music. It's my own music," he states.
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"I'm an artist before I'm a musician. I'm an artist before I'm an actor. I'm an artist before I'm a rapper. I'm an artist first," says LL Cool J, who spent the summer in Montreal filming a high-tech remake of Rollerball. In it, LL plays the No.1 rollerball athlete in the world. Riding at "breakneck" speed on a Harley, the goalies use deadly force to keep the opposition from scoring. "The management starts rigging the game. People start getting murdered so the ratings can go up. It's crazy," he enthuses. As far as his rating in the rap world, LL has no qualms about placing himself at the top. His ninth and latest album, immodestly titled G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith (his real name) is an acronym for The Greatest Of All Time. Lyrically, he's not merely boasting about his skills, but broaching everything from the almighty dollar replacing the wedding ring to the tragic Columbine incident happening in the ghetto every day. "It wasn't about getting anything off my chest. This wasn't that kind of album," says LL. "I wasn't just stealing a lot of mixed emotional madness. It was more about me saying, 'Hey, this is what I think.' And more like a conversation." |
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Montreal-based twin sisters Toni and Trish Sherwood, otherwise known as 11:30, don't have an ounce of Latin blood in them, but their debut, Ole Ole, does. The daughters of Dorian Sherwood, who has sung back-up for Corey Hart and Celine Dion and wrote and produced the 11:30 album, speak both French and English. However, the girls, 20, simply love the vibe of Latin music. "It's very energetic and very positive," says Trish, who expresses interest in taking a Spanish-language course. On their next album, they would like to incorporate other cultures into their dance-pop, namely Arabic. The twins have a friend who used to play authentic Arabic music in her car and at home all the time and found it "out of this world." And they were both impressed by the beauty of Sting�s "Desert Rose." Says Toni: "Mixing culture into music gives it an amazing end product." Besides, she adds, "Music is like an alternative language." |
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