GENTLEMAN

BIOGRAPHY

Gentleman (ne Tilmann Otto) is one of Germany’s first indigenous reggae artists, a fan of the genre even before he visited Jamaica when he was 17 years old. He started out by providing a guest vocal to German rap group Freundeskeris’ 1997 song “Tabula Rasa,” then began releasing singles on his own before his 1999 debut, “Trodin On,” mixed dancehall and hip-hop sensibilities into what was dubbed the Germaican style. Gentleman made an even greater impact with 2002′s “Journey to Jah” and has six other albums — including the German chart toppers “Confidence” in 2004 and “Diversity” in 2010. He’s also collaborated over the years with Sizzla, Morgan Heritage, Capleton, Luciano, Barrington Levy, Bobby Digital and others.