Featured Artiste – Jamaica’s Mr. Vegas

December 24, 2013July 28, 2014 Andrew

Mr. Vegas whose real name is Clifford Smith is a Jamaican and International dancehall superstar. He was born December 28, 1974.

The nickname “Mr. Vegas” was actually given to him by schoolmates he played football with because they thought he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer. Pity they didn’t know that it would stick and end up becoming a household name in Jamaica and around the world.

The now instantly recognizable singjay, Vegas sang covers of Jamaican hits at local parties and shows, and earned a reputation as a troublemaker for his lyrics. During a scuffle over stolen master tapes, he was hit in the face with a crowbar and had his jaw wired shut for six weeks. Vegas claims that, after hearing Beenie Man’s hit “Who Am I”, he immediately demanded that his still-healing jaw be unwired, changing his speech pattern but allowing him to practice toasting.

He rose to fame in 1998 with hit songs including: “Yu Sure”, “Jack It Up”, and “Latest News”. For his first major hit, Vegas versioned the wildly popular “Playground” Riddim (Sean Paul’s “Who Am I” among others) to create “Nike Air”, which became a HUGE hit in Jamaica.

His next single, “Heads High”, also did very well earning a chart run in the UK and a #69 peak on the US R&B chart, and Vegas became increasingly in demand as a guest artist by acts such as Sean Paul.

In 1998 his debut album, Heads High, was released, which hit #5 on the US Reggae chart. He also won a MOBO for Best Reggae Artist for the Heads High album as well.

What makes Mr. Vegas such an amazing artiste for me is his ability to seamlessly blend his own styles with the musical styles of others and make them better. He has collaborated with many big names in the music industry including Beyonce on their single entitled “Standing in the Sun“. A good example of how he is able to infuse his creativity in different forms of music can be seen in the video below: He partnered with the successful reggaeton duo Luny Tunes for “Oh Johnny“.

He Takes Pride in His Work

You have to respect a man that gives his all to be the best at his craft. Mr. Vegas has already proven to the world that he can make quality songs but have you ever taken the time to analyze his music videos? They are top notch both in terms of creativity and production! It is evident that this man invests HEAVILY to continue to churn out these amazing videos for our viewing pleasure and as a fan I give him maximum respect for that.

Check out one of my favourite videos from him below:

Mr Vegas has accrued numerous awards during the course of his career including a MOBO 2012 Award nomination in the UK. His album Sweet Jamaica was named by Google Music as ‘Top 50 albums of 2012’, endorsed by Complex Magazine in the Top 100 Albums of 2012’ and well as on the ‘Best of 2012’ in the reggae section of iTunes.

His music continues to receive solid rotations on mainstream radio stations throughout the world.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed as his song “Sweet Jamaica” was selected for Song of the Year, and “Bruk it Down” for Video of the Year at the International Reggae and World Music Awards (2013).