Clifford Smith (born 29 December 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 reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

musician.

Biography

Clifford Smith was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six 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 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 (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

'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). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...

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

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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 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

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

Machel Montano Machel Montano (born 24 November 1974)Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Soca Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 300–301. is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian Soca music, soca recording artist and record producer. Known for his high energy, fast-pa ...

, "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 population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

artist

Destra Garcia Destra Garcia (born 10 November 1978) is a Trinidadian soca musician, singer and songwriter. Among the most prolific soca artists in the world, she is often referred to as the Queen of Soca, the Queen of Bacchanal (Q.O.B.), or her stage alter ...

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

Retirement

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

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

, 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" (

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), "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 advertis ...

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

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 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, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact 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
, ''

'', 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 Stationers' Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English F ...

*''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 that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

*''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

Mr. Vegas
at Myspace *

Mr. Vegas Clifford Smith (born 29 December 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 Guide ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{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 Ragga musicians