Clifford Smith (born December 29th, 1974), better known as Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

musician.

Biography

Clifford Smith was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in 1974.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, , p.345 The

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer. In his early years as a

singjay Singjaying is a Jamaican style of reggae vocals combining toasting and singing in an elastic format that encourages rhythmically compelling and texturally impressive vocal embellishments. The performer is called a singjay, a combination of singer ...

, Vegas sang covers of Jamaican hits at local parties and shows, and acquired a reputation as a troublemaker for his lyrics. During a scuffle over stolen master

tape Tape or Tapes may refer to: Material A long, narrow, thin strip of material (see also Ribbon (disambiguation): Adhesive tapes * Adhesive tape, any of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive *Athletic tape, pressure-sensitiv ...

s, Vegas was hit in the face with a

crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

and had his jaw wired shut for six weeks. Vegas claims that, after hearing

Beenie Man Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay. Biography Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...

'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 found fame in 1998 with hits such as "Yu Sure", "Jack It Up", and "Latest News". For his first major hit, Vegas versioned the wildly popular "Playground" Riddim (

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

's "Infiltrate" among others) to create "Nike Air", which became a huge hit in Jamaica. The next single, "Heads High", with an anti- oral sex lyric, followed its success in Jamaica with a chart run in the UK and a No. 69 peak on the U.S. R&B chart, and Vegas became increasingly in demand as a guest artist by acts such as

. In 1998, his debut album, ''Heads High'' was released, which hit No. 5 on the US Reggae chart. Vegas won a MOBO for Best Reggae Artist for the ''Heads High'' album as well. 2000's single "Hot Gal Today" was a minor hit on the US R&B chart, peaking at No. 66. In 2001, he issued ''Damn Right'', featuring guest appearances from

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

and Big Yard; this album went to No. 2 on the US Reggae chart. 2004 saw the release of the ''Pull Up'' LP on Delicious Vinyl Records, and the title track scraped the bottom of the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, peaking at No. 98 (as well as No. 68 on the R&B chart). In 2006, he did a

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

collaboration with

Machel Montano Machel Jesus Montano (born 24 November 1974)Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Soca Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 300–301. is a Trinidadian soca singer, actor, record producer and songwriter. Known for his high energy, fast-paced, and often unp ...

, "Dance with You" on Montano's ''B.O.D.Y.'' album. His latest, 2007's ''Hot It Up'', featured the Jamaican hits "Hot Wuk", "Taxi Fare" and "Tek Weh Yuhself". In 2008, Mr. Vegas also recorded "On the Floor" with Trinidadian artist Destra Garcia on her album, ''Soca or Die''.

Retirement

In September 2008, Smith announced that he was retiring from the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, citing unhappiness with his work and a desire to spend more time with his children and be "closer to God Almighty". Although he had been suffering from ill-health for some time, he denied that this was a factor in his retirement. However, in 2009 and 2010 he made new songs such as "Man a Gallis", "Can't Stop Now" ( Major Lazer), "Mix Up Peggy", "Wanna See You Move" ( DJ GQ) and "Fi Get Rich".

Return to music

Recording throughout 2011 and in early 2012 for his newly formed label imprint MV Music, Mr. Vegas released his new album, ''Sweet Jamaica'' on 29 May 2012. To celebrate Jamaica's 50th Anniversary, Mr. Vegas took to the studio to produce an all-star remix, The Voices of Sweet Jamaica with a cast of reggae greats including Shaggy, U-Roy, Barrington Levy, Marcia Griffiths and more. Proceeds of the recording went to benefit the children of Mustard Seed Communities in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2012, Mr. Vegas received a MOBO Award nomination in the UK. ''Sweet Jamaica'' was named by Google Music as one of the 'Top 50 albums of 2012', endorsed by ''Complex Magazine'' in the 'Top 100 Albums of 2012' as well as appearing on the 'Best of 2012' in the reggae section of iTunes. The album debuted at number 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Reggae Albums chart.Morgan, Simone (2014)
Mr Vegas to share Euphoria
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 16 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014 Vegas received multiple awards at the 32nd IRAWMA celebration on 4 May 2013 when "Sweet Jamaica" was selected for Song of the Year, and "Bruk it Down" for Video of the Year. ''Reggae Euphoria'' was released in September 2014. He featured on a remixed version of

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's "Standing on the Sun", which was included on the 2014 'Platinum Edition' of her self-titled album. An album of cover versions, ''Lovers Rock and Soul'', was released in October 2015.Vegas drops new album
, ''

'', 30 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015 In 2019, Mr. Vegas released the track "Wobble Ma Head" with Indian artists Akade & PABLO.

Discography

*''Heads High'' (1998), Greensleeves *''Reggae Max'' (1999), Jet Star *''Mr. Vegas'' (1999), VP *''Damn Right'' (2001), Greensleeves *''Pull Up'' (2004), Delicious Vinyl *''Hot It Up'' (2007),

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

*''The Hits'' (2008), Greensleeves *'' Sweet Jamaica'' (2012), MV Music *''Reggae Euphoria'' (2014), MV Music *''Lovers Rock and Soul'' (2015), MV Music *''This Is Dancehall'' (2016), VPAL Music *''ISM'' (2018), MV Music *"Wobble Ma Head" (with Akade & PABLO) (2019)

References

External links

Official websiteMr. Vegas
at Myspace *

Mr. Vegas Clifford Smith (born December 29th, 1974), better known as Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Biography Clifford Smith was born in Kingston in 1974.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Gu ...

at AllMusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas, Mr. 1974 births Living people Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican dancehall musicians Delicious Vinyl artists VP Records artists Greensleeves Records artists