Oswald Priest, better known as Mad Lion, is a

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 ...

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Sm ...

musician and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) "Mad Lion", in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 178 He frequently collaborates with fellow hip hop artist

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

. His awards include the 1994

Source Award ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the magaz ...

as Reggae Artist of the Year, and the 1995 Source Award as Reggae Hip-Hop Artist of the Year.

Biography

Priest is Jamaican and was born in London. Shortly after moving to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, he met reggae performer

Super Cat William Anthony Maragh (born 25 June 1963),Huey, Steve " Super Cat Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 18 July 2010 also known as Super Cat, is a Jamaican deejay who achieved widespread popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall mo ...

at Super Power Records. At Super Cat's suggestion, he adopted his professional name, an acronym for Musical Assassin Delivering Lyrical Intelligence Over Nations. He blended raggea and hip-hop, and went on to work with KRS-One throughout the 1990s. His addition of hip hop rhythms to Shabba Ranks' "Jam" gave him some early success. His début single "Shoot to Kill" was successful in New York and he reached a wider audience with "Take It Easy", which was one of 18 tracks on his début album in 1994, titled ''Real Ting''. He contributed to

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

's 1997 album '' Brand New''. In 1997 he topped the US reggae chart with "Carpenter". He also appeared in the music video for the

Flava in Ya Ear "Flava in Ya Ear" is the debut single by American rapper Craig Mack, from his album ''Project Funk da World''. The original club mix single was released on 12" vinyl in July 1994 on the Bad Boy Entertainment record label, packaged with a series of ...

remix by

Craig Mack Craig Jamieson Mack (May 10, 1971 – March 12, 2018) was an American rapper and record producer, and was famous during his tenure under Bad Boy Records. Early life and career Craig Jamieson Mack was born in The Bronx, New York, and raised on ...

feat.

Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

, Rampage,

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

and

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

. Mad Lion's other collaborative projects consist of working with Puerto Rican producers DJ Playero, DJ Tony Touch, DJ Nico Canada, and other reggaeton artists who were flourishing around 1996. Mad Lion was featured on a track in which he did a duet with the Puerto Rican Hip Hop artist

Mexicano 777 Israel Perales Ortiz (September 1, 1972 – July 23, 2015) better known by his stage name Mexicano 777, was a Puerto Rican rapper who gained fame across Latin America, and in the United States. Mexicano 777 was from Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, and was ...

on the track titled "Guerreros" which was a Dancehall fused Hip-Hop track that was featured on the "Boricua Guerrero: First Combat" album produced by DJ Playero & DJ Nico Canada. Mad Lion also collaborated with Puerto Rican Reggaeton artist Rey Pirin on the track titled "Guerrillero Borincano" which was a gritty Hip-Hop. Mad Lion was joined by Jahdan & the Black Hearted Skavengerz who did a solo on a Reggaeton riddim titled "Many Many More", & the duo Curly Valentino & Demos Demarco made an appearance on the Hip-Hop track titled "Razor Sharp" with Mexicano 777. Mad Lion soon lent his rapping skills to that of the DJ Tony Touch & DJ Nico Canada produced mixtape titled "Guatauba", where he laid down a freestyle on a Reggaeton riddim. Again, Mad Lion was joined by other Jamaican Dancehall artists such as Mad Cobra, who did a freestyle on a Hip-Hop riddim, & The Black Hearted Skavengerz appeared doing a freestyle on a Reggaeton riddim.

Discography

*''Real Ting'' (1994), Nervous *''Real Lover'' (1995), VP *''Ghetto Gold and Platinum Respect'' (1997), Nervous *''Predatah or Prey'' (2001),

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Lion Jamaican hip hop musicians Reggae fusion artists Ragga musicians Jamaican reggae musicians Living people Reprise Records artists Year of birth missing (living people)