Olaf Blackwood (born 5 November 1980) is a Jamaican singer-songwriter and record producer.

Early life

Blackwood was born in

Lacovia Lacovia is a town in Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, located on the Black River between the Upper Morass and the Lower Morass. History The name derives from ''La Caoban'', the name of the place during the Spanish occupation. Following the Eng ...

, a village in

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 ...

Saint Elizabeth Parish Saint Elizabeth, one of Jamaica's largest parishes, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the Black River, the widest on the island. History Saint Elizabet ...

, where he helped support his family's farm throughout his childhood. As a child, his two passions were

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and music. Inspired by his uncle

Errol Blackwood Errol may refer to: People with the given name *Errol Barnett (born 1983), anchor and correspondent for CBS News *Errol Barrow (1920–1987), first Prime Minister of Barbados *Errol Brown (1943–2015), British-Jamaican songwriter, lead singer ...

, the lead singer of reggae band

Messenjah Messenjah is a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music. History Messenjah was formed in 1980 in Kitchener, Ontario and released their first album ...

, Blackwood dropped out of school at sixteen and traveled to Kingston to pursue a music career.

Music career

Blackwood recorded his first single for

Garnett Silk Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994) was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, however ...

's record label in 1995. He then released music for Mario C Productions on the Artillery rhythm. After struggling to find success in Jamaica, Blackwood migrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2002. In the United States, he has written and produced songs for entertainers such as

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

Tessanne Chin Tessanne Amanda Chin (; born September 20, 1985) is a Jamaican recording artist, best known for winning The Voice (American season 5), Season 5 of NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice'' as part of Adam ...

. Blackwood achieved commercial success in 2017 with the single "I Need You", an

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...

and

Fernando Garibay Fernando Garibay (;) is an American record producer, songwriter, DJ, academic and entrepreneur. Artistic career He was the official musical director of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball and the producer of her '' Born This Way'' album. Fernando ...

song for which Blackwood served as a featured vocalist. "I Need You" was certified platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and peaked at #7 on

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 ...

's Digital Song Sales chart. Blackwood also mentors aspiring songwriters through his publishing company, Holland Bamboo Publishing.

Feature discography

References

External links

Official Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwood, Olaf 1980 births Living people Jamaican record producers Record producers from Los Angeles Musicians from Los Angeles Dancehall musicians Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican rappers 21st-century Jamaican male singers Jamaican reggae singers Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Reggae fusion artists