The Tunes That Turned This Teenager From Köln, Germany Into A Certified Jamaican Star
In late 2014 MTV invited Gentleman to record an “Unplugged” album, marking the first time any reggae artist had joined that respected series which has included the likes of Jay Z, Nirvana, and Lauryn Hill. With guest appearances by Shaggy, Ky-Mani Marley, Tanya Stephens, and Christopher Martin as well as the German duo Milky Chance, Gentleman and his acoustic band repped reggae music to the fullest. If it seems strange that a white man born in Germany should be chosen to represent a musical art form created in the Caribbean amongst the surviving descendants of African slaves, then you don’t know Tilmann Otto. Boomshots recently caught up with the conscious German reggae singer—known to his fans as Gentleman—and spoke with him about his unlikely rise to the top of the reggae business, why it’s such an honor to record the MTV Ungplugged project, and what stories are dominating his attention these days and for the foreseeable future (Think: Songs About The Syrian Refugee Crisis.) Videos After The Jump… (more…)