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

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n dancehall musician.

Biography

Clifford Smith was born in Kingston in 1974.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, , p.345 The moniker "Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard football-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the 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 tapes, Vegas 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 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'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 Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex p ...

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 Sean Paul. In 1998, his debut album, ''Heads High'' was released, which hit No. 5 on the US Reggae chart. Vegas won a

MOBO The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

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 diaspor ...

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, peaking at No. 98 (as well as No. 68 on the R&B chart). In 2006, he did a soca collaboration with Machel Montano, "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 Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

artist

Destra Garcia Destra Garcia (born 10 November 1978) is a Trinidadian musician, singer and songwriter of soca music. She is also known by the mononym Destra. She is one of the most popular female soca artists in the world. Biography Childhood and early care ...

on her album, ''Soca or Die''.

Retirement

In September 2008, Smith announced that he was retiring from the music industry, 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 Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

), "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'' Reggae Albums chart.Morgan, Simone (2014)
Mr Vegas to share Euphoria
, '' Jamaica Observer'', 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'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
, '' Jamaica Observer'', 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 "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fo ...

*''Reggae Max'' (1999), Jet Star *''Mr. Vegas'' (1999), VP *''Damn Right'' (2001), Greensleeves *''Pull Up'' (2004),

Delicious Vinyl Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles, California. History Michael Ross was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles when he met Matt Dike, a ...

*''Hot It Up'' (2007),

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*''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 ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{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