Gary James Watson (born May 11, 1972), who goes by the stage name Sivion, formerly Vision, is an American

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United ...

musician and member of the hip hop supergroup collective Deepspace5. He was also a member of the duo Phat K.A.T.S., which he formed with his brother, who goes by the name Wushu. He has released four studio albums, ''Spring of the Songbird'' (2006), ''Mood Enhancement'' (2006), ''Butterfly Sessions'' with Dert (2010), and ''

Group Therapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, ...

'' (2013), as well as additional live and

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 20 ...

s and an EP.

Early life

Watson was born Gary James Watson, COVER CHARGE Work ID No. 331782175 ISWC No. T0722479722 IPI No. 403452300 (WATSON GARY JAMES) on May 11, 1972, in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

, Oklahoma, with his twin brother, Terry Edward Watson, who is also a Christian rapper, going by the name Wushu. He grew up splitting time in Dallas, Texas and Gaithersburg, Maryland, as his father's side of the family is from Maryland and his mother's side is from Texas. He went to

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

while his twin brother stayed closer to home attending

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...

Music career

Watson states that he started taking hip hop music seriously as a career in 1990. He formed the project Phat K.A.T.S. with his brother, himself going by the name Vision and his brother by the name Wushu. Watson eventually changed his name to Sivion, as he discovered that there were several other hip hop artists with the moniker "Vision". Watson explains that he decided on the name Sivion after he misspelled his original stage name in an email to his brother. Watson joined the

collective Deepspace5 during the recording session for ''The Night We Called It a Day''. He started his solo music recording career in 2005, with the studio album ''Mood Enhancement'', released through Illect Recordings. A second album, ''Spring Of The Songbird'', released the following year (2006) through

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille display ...

's Hip Hop IS Music. He partnered with Dert for the 2010 album ''Butterfly Sessions'', and a fourth studio album, ''

'', was released on October 15, 2013, from Illect Recordings. He is part of the hip hop duo, Phat K.A.T.S., with his twin brother, Terry.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Mood Enhancement'' (May 24, 2005, Illect Recordings) * ''Spring of the Songbird'' (June 9, 2006, Hip Hop IS Music) * ''Butterfly Sessions'' with Dert (September 7, 2010, Illect Recordings) * ''

'' (October 15, 2013, Illect Recordings) * ''Dark Side of the Cocoon'' (October 6, 2017, Illect Recordings) Extended plays * ''Here We Go / Sivion for President'' (January 19, 2010, Illect Recordings) Live albums * ''Live at the Gypsy Tea Room'' (December 12, 2006, Illect Recordings) Remix albums * ''Everything Is Everything / Brand New Day'' (May 10, 2011, Illect Recordings) * ''Older Now (Remixes)'' (December 6, 2011, Illect Recordings) * ''Butterfly Sessions: Remixed'' (remixed by Freddie Bruno, February 12, 2013, Illect Recordings)

References

External links

Holy Hip Hop DataBase profile
{{Authority control 1972 births Living people African-American rappers African-American Christians Musicians from Baltimore Musicians from Dallas Performers of Christian hip hop music Rappers from Baltimore Rappers from Dallas University of Miami alumni Deepspace5 members 21st-century American rappers