Gentleman

Born as Tilmann Otto, German reggae singer Gentleman first embraced Jamaican music during an initial visit to the island at age seventeen. Although Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley had already shaped his tastes, hearing contemporary voices such as Sizzla and Anthony B. convinced him that roots-flavored reggae remained vibrant and that he could carry its message back to Germany. In 1997 the German hip-hop group Freundeskreis invited him to apply his singjay style to the track “Tabula Rasa.” A string of solo singles paved the way for his 1999 debut album Trodin On, which fused dancehall and hip-hop while he sang in English and Jamaican patois. The record proved foundational for the emerging “Germaican” movement, yet it made little impact beyond German borders. Gentleman achieved his breakthrough in 2002 with the deeply roots-oriented Journey to Jah, an album shaped by the birth of his son. Gone were profanity and gun references; instead, righteous reggae figures including Morgan Heritage, Capleton, and Luciano lent their voices, while Richie Stephens, Bobby Digital, and the Firehouse Crew handled production, earning him esteem within the roots community. The 2003 Runaway EP and the live CD/DVD Gentleman & the Far East Band maintained momentum as he toured worldwide before growing audiences. His 2004 single “Superior” became a global reggae success, landing on compilations across the U.S. and Europe and resonating far beyond the Germaican scene. By year’s end the album Superior appeared, again featuring Anthony B. alongside Cocoa Tea and Barrington Levy. His fourth album, Another Intensity, followed in 2007. In 2010 Gentleman left the modest German-based Four Music label for Universal, a move that yielded immediate results when Diversity reached number one on the German charts. A live album surfaced in 2011, and the following year he teamed with Jamaican R&B singer Richie Stephens for Live Your Life. His sixth solo album, New Day Dawn, arrived in 2013.