I grew up in southern Wisconsin and am white. This track, and ini kamoze, were the best things on my radio when I wanted to hear something with riddem. ❤🎉
@@CJH-zx3cpyeah,he's Canadian and grew up in a predominantly Jamaican neighborhood up there,I thought it was bullshit but apparently there's Jamaican neighborhoods in Canada
@@uttasyda9746I was surprised to find out that yeah he was a legit thug from a Jamaican neighborhood. Not cultural appropriation. Just a white kid in a black neighborhood. Culture is whatever you soak up around you. (Always thought he looked like that one dude from Color Me Bad.)
That's the joke, the song isn't about anything but him getting a cavity search after being arrested for beating a guy with a crowbar (true story, he was arrested and spent 8 months in jail in 1987). Lmao. The rest of it is just him rapping about not being a snitch.
Snow grew up in the Jamaican area of Toronto Canada and that was what he knew and grew up around. He loved the music and styles and infused it into his music(rap). I personally would listen to Snow over Vanilla Ice anyday lol! thanks for sharing Black Pegasus :)
He grew up on patois and he's more gangster than most rappers who claimed to be from Compton^^ I think even when the single came out and blew up he was in jail. he was a wild boy.
I watched a interview from Snow in Jamaica. They asked him what coming there the first time around was like (The interview was 20 years or so later) and he said he wasn't sure how we was going to be received. They embraced him wholeheartedly and show nothing but love. He lives there now I do believe
Snow was an acronym nickname bestowed on him by his black friends, it stands for "Superb Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy". He continued to make reggae, and is apparently very popular in Jamaica.
I think regardless of your race, if you grow up surrounded by the culture with your friends and neighbours and you speak the language you get to celebrate the culture that influenced you and your love for music.
No... sorry. We judge strictly based on skin tone here sir. For example Drake was on a Disney channel show and Migos are affluent suburbanites, yet they represent "the culture" more than a white kid from 8Mile Detroit or from white trash poverty that makes any urban hood look like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
That’s why I don’t hate Elvis. He was so poor, he was even poorer than the black people he grew up with in Tupelo and Memphis. What other music was he going to sing growing up in that environment? He learned to sing in a black church.
The black guy getting locked up was DJ Marvin Prince who was a close friend of Snow at the time. He was the one who gave Snow his name and helped jumpstart his career.
I'm a white guy who grew up in a housing complex in Toronto (Scarborough) in the 80's. I had a lot of Jamaican friends and listened to a lot of dancehall. It was a little bit more niche in the 80's and where you grew up and who you grew up with influenced you, but into the 90's it became mainstream across the city and a lot of Toronto slang has Jamaican origin.
Was in Galloway in the 80s. My building had a ton of Trinis but there were a good number of Jamaicans. My friends' dad used to collectively call us the Oreo squad because I was their token white kid.
If you notice, often when he says "leaky boom boom down" he makes gun shooting gestures with his hands. An informer is a leak, the leak gets two shots and goes down... leaky boom boom down. People who gave the lyrics you read sucked at listening worse than your average person.
coming to think about it snow is honestly one of the most down to earth laid back people I've ever met... he's also someone who would likely do an interview if you and don reached out.
1987, Snow served eight months of a one-year sentence after pleading guilty to beating a person with a crowbar during a bar brawl.[3] Upon Snow's release in January 1988, the Jamaican-born DJ Marvin Prince saw O'Brien deejaying at a party and the two became friends. For the next few years, they practiced in Prince's basement, and played parties, with Snow providing vocals and Prince playing records. Prince, who would claim that he helped Snow refine his reggae singing and use of the Jamaican dialect, and that he came up with the name 'Snow', told the Los Angeles Times that they passed around a lot of tapes but could not get Snow signed because he was white.[
Man you need to do some research. SNOW grew up with all black friends and was like one of their brothers... and the song is about snitching and getting your ass shot
I used AI to translate the lyrics to plain english: Someone betrayed me and set me up, Now the police think I’m out of luck. They’re saying I attacked someone, But it’s not true-I’m not the one. The police showed up and broke down my door, They even tried crawling across the floor. They threw me in the car and took me away, Straight to the station, no time to delay. The informer lied to ruin my name, But I’m innocent; I’m not to blame. For now, I’m stuck inside this cell, But I’ll prove my truth and break this spell. Whenever I speak, they won’t hear me out, They think I’m guilty, but I have no doubt- The real criminal who caused this pain, Is the informer who sang my name.
I once nervously watched a Jamaican react to this and I was worried she was going to shit all over this song I have loved for 30 years. As it turns out he’s really talking his shit here.
it's actually a true story he was falsely accused of attempted murder and spend time away in prison for something he did not do and when he says that he was with a young lady the whole night it was his alibi they still didn't believe him it's actually kind of a crazy story but he has other songs you should check out too just saying he's pretty awesome and very proud that he's Canadian
It's not actual patois. It is gibberish with basic patois words randomly inserted into it. The grammar is off and he incorrectly pronounces a bunch of stuff. "Lick-a-shot" was a patois phrase when this came out, he turned it into "licky boom-boom down" bc he is a fraud.
@@cptight88 that hasn't been the reaction I've seen from more than one patois-speaking reactor, and bear in mind there is dialectilization everywhere that Jamaican patois exist
'Cultural appropriation' is an amorphous, vague term that doesn't mean anything. You are part of whatever culture you're exposed to, regardless of what you look like or where you're born.
Cultural appropriation is in fact a real and specific term but unfortunately people do what they do, use terms incorrectly and ruin them. This is not cultural appropriation, he grew up in this cultural and acquired this cultural the same way anyone does no matter their skin color. That's not appropriation, so I agree with your clarification in this use case though there is in fact uses for the term people misuse Mostly this stems from people not understanding the usage of "appropriation"... first definition in the dictionary when you look it up "the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission." As you point out that's not applicable to a culture someone is exposed to naturally. People who misuse that term are the reason we can't have nice things.
@@M4ttNet The term is not applicable to any culture. A culture cannot be 'owned'. How do they own it? Do they keep it in a box? You can't appropriate something that is not the owned by any specific person. You can't 'steal' it because the the person you supposedly 'stole' it from still has it. This is what I meant by 'cultural appropriation' being a vague, meaningless term. It's just one of many recently fabricated terms used to divide people via fabricated virtue signalling.
I find it interesting that we encourage globalism, the mixing of the races, and access to diversity, but when someone is inspired by that access to diversity, we clutch our pearls and scream appropriation. We didn't do that back in the 90s - it was just called inspiration and creativity. We weren't so overly sensitive as we are now.... which by the way, is the killer of creativity.
@@VertigoGirl-g1o Absolutely! Thank you for saying that. It's so infuriating watching his reaction for that reason. I also recall his reaction to Simply Red's "If you don't Know me by now" he saw Mick Hucknalls hand in the video before his face was revealed and was surprised by the soulful voice stating "I'm colourblind of course" (yeah sure) but that he didn't expect "that voice to come from that hand, if you know what I mean". Do certain people have a monopoly in his view on soulful voices and what music he thinks they can and can't sing. Fool.
I love that interview where the girl reporter is asking him about why he was in prison and he's like "you know, attempted murder, stuff like that" like it was just normal charges LOL.
Grew up with the Jamaicans in Toronto, this is based on a true story of when he was pulled into a police station and didn't rat on his on his bro's. The only sad thing about the video is that you are judging him by his color and not his culture, or most of all his talent.
I met him at a petro Canada gas station at Kennedy and Finch in Scarborough. It was years after his hit and he pulled into the gas station with the windows down playing his own music. I thought he was a punk but when paying, I met him in the gas station and he was not a bad guy. Gave me an autograph for my wife.
Holy crap…I know Kennedy and finch! and the Petro Canada you are referring to. I grew up close by- Kennedy/Birchmount and huntingwood. I went to Leacock. Small world !
The "licky-boom-boom down" thing is part of a Jamaican patois thing that they also use in Jamaican communities in Toronto use, where Snow is from. lick-a-boom-boom is gunshots and "down" is dead.
Growing up he had a strong interest in rock music, but after there was an influx of Jamaican immigrants to the neighborhood in 1983, his interest turned to reggae music, and he became adept at the use of the Jamaican dialect, or Jamaican Patois.
Snow is one of the realest to do it. From a criminal family too. Been listening to this since I was a kid in primary school and still slaps today. Underrated and often mocked.
As someone who's from a similar generation as you I'm very surprised you haven't heard of Snow, but then it could be because I'm Canadian and you're not. He was HUGE up here when this dropped and was played on Much Music all the time. I know to Americans it seems a bit weird that a Canadian would be speaking in Patois, but until you visit certain neighborhoods in Toronto you probably won't realize how many Jamaicans and West Indies people we have here. You would think that the Jamaican community didn't like Snow, but in fact they really embraced him for the most part. To this day, I think his collaboration with several Dancehall legends on the "Anything For You" remix is considered a classic in Jamaica. I recommend you check it out.
Canada has to play a certain amount of Canadian music.. bit I don't think he was able to travel and play shows much, because his charges didn't let him get into certain countries..
When I saw this reaction, I had to tune in to watch you get your Mind Blown! I saw this Coming...lol I'm 60 and have been listening to Snow since Day 1!... Welcome to the Party....lol
He saw his own music video in jail, serving an 8 month sentence for assault in '92.. but he wrote the song about this... The song is based on a separate 1989 incident when Snow was charged with two counts of attempted murder. At the time, he was detained for a year in Toronto before the charges were reduced to aggravated assault, and he was eventually acquitted and freed
So many people thought he was a poser because of Vanilla Ice. But this dude grew up in a Toronto neighborhood that had a ton of Jamaican immigrants, so this is the culture and music he came up around. He's as real as you can get. Like, not being able to tour and promote the song because he was in lockup real..
DJ Marvin Prince introduced Snow to MC Shan and they made this song a licky boom boom down sort of means shooting somebody dead I think it is Jamaican rasta-reggae he lived in a Rasta Jamaican neighbourhood he did 1 year in prison for attempted murder but was released MC Shan is in the video.
Todd in the Shadows covered this song for his "One Hit Wonderland" series. And his career was tanked by the fact that he actaully was gangster enough to be in jail when this song blew up. He's Canadian, and was stuck in Canada for Ten Months, and then was stuck there on Probation, and couldn't leave Canada. He couldn't go to NYC and do any support or do any touring. I definately recommend watching Todd's video on this song, and Snow's career, or lack thereoff.
He lived in an area that had large influx of Jamaicans and got hooked on Reggae. 2 Inches of Snow was released in 1992, while Snow was in prison. Another Canadian Rap group, you should check out is Organized Rhyme that had Tom Green as MC Bones.
Snow grew up in a Jamaican community in of all places Canada. This came out while he was actually in jail. The song is telling the guy that snitched on him what’s going to happen when he gets out.
He got huge respect in Jamaica, this is also holds 2 Guinness records for highest charting and best selling reggae song in history...I grew up in Toronto 🇨🇦, where snow is from, and as a whiteboy in the 90s i had to learn to at least understand patois to get by since even my white friends spoke it lmao
When I was a little kid, I had this uncanny ability to memorize the words of songs. And this song was on the radio a lot, so I started rapping along, and my parents thought it was hilarious. So, think I was like 5 or 6, they made me do it on the karaoke stage at the mall. I used to have to endure the aging VHS every holiday. Then like 20 years ago, my neighbor bangs on my door, he won some settlement, bought a bunch of coke, and insisted we go do karaoke at Chopsticks. The mood hit me, and I did this song once more. And later "Don't Take Me Alive" by Steely Dan. Good memories.
He was literally in prison charged with murder when this video debuted. He filmed this while awaiting sentencing. He grew up in the Jamaican projects in Canada - the song means "U'll shoot the snitch".
He grew up in the Jane & Finch hood in Toronto. A predominantly black/Jamaican neighbourhood. You should react to some of the other OG Canadian rappers from the same era like Maestro Fresh Wes, Dream Warriors, Michie Mee, etc
@@gingerkid1048 yeah. and Kish... I Rhyme The World in 80 Days 😂... remember him? I went to school with his DJ, Supreme. He was my source for a ton of mixtapes.
His area of Toronto had a huge influx of Jamaican migration around the time he turned 11 or so and he became really into the culture and the music, lol
Was waiting for this 😄 good choice, can't go wrong with classics. *A licky boom-boom down, he means, I’ll shoot down the informer / I’ll knock the informer out* He lived not far from where I lived in Toronto, this song never gets old and brings back good memories. Great reaction as always, I enjoyed this ☺💖👍💯 Thank you. Love from Canada 🍁
It may come as a surprise, but Snow is the real deal, he grew up in a ghetto from Toronto. Toronto is the second capital of reggae in the world, after Kingston, people there just love all the genres of reggae, from ragga to dancehal, they just go crazy for it and there is a big culture of music. This guy story is really interesting, you should check it. The video and all the stuff was put together in the US and the album "12 Inches of Snow" was produced by MC Shan. Snow then came back to Canada where he went to jail and then was denied to come back to the US, so he became an instant celebrity without the ability to promote his album in any way. He then was forced to promote himself and release the new albums outside the US, and people in Jamaica love him, he have some works with some of the heavy weights of Jamaica which love him very much.
I was born and raised in Toronto. I can also speak Jamaican. I dated a few, and my maid of honour, my best friend is Jamaican. We are not a melting pot. We are a unite and appreciate. Each culture, is a human equal to us and it intrigued us born there where we were just sponges for the newbies and always excited to meet them. I was always the first girl in high school to introduce myself to someone new. I loved that shit. I learned lots, I'm a multicultural cook, I love everyone as my sibling. Big hugs. This guy is probably in jail. He seems like a Jane/Finch victim.
Look up him and Shan guesting on some casual hip hop veteran gathering, and you'll be floored. Snow's the by far the bigest actual gangster of the bunch, like he's effortlessly more hood than anyone in the room to the point that they're all shocked and speechless when he and Shan start dropping anecdotes. 'So there I am in my prison cell with my father and my uncle Paddy' is an actual quote 😂 i mean, the Irish made the surname Hooligan become a byword for 'hood' to this day 🤣
Lmao when this song came out, my bestie and I spent the day tryna memorize the words. Still remember them all today 😂Snow, my Canadian brother from another mother
I am like the whitest middle aged Canadian woman and I cannot stop laughing at Talcum X. We loved Snow. He grew up in Jamaican Toronto and he was totally accepted by the community.
Snow did 2 stretches in the late 80's. Once for a double-stabbing in a Toronto alley. That's what he's talking about in the chorus. He also nearly killed a guy when he beat him mercilessly with a crowbar.
This song is used in a Daddy Yankee song called Con Calma. I believe Daddy Yankee asked his permission to use this song as part of the chorus for Con Calma. Snow even got credited as a featuring artist, even tho I think he didnt actually sing in it.
And I see this is a new reaction and I live in Scarborough which is a suburb of Toronto which is where Snow originates😊😊😊 and we have a large Jamaican population here and the food is amazing😅😅😅
At least you looked up the lyrics, this snow reaction rabbit hole has been a ride, hope he comments on your vid, also he’s smiling coarse his mate didn’t snitch
A big Jamaican influence there, my ex is a DJ that plays in multiple Reggae clubs, and even takes a portable record player and plays on the streets, one of my favourite Jamaican legends lives there. Stranger Cole, he was the first to open Ska/Reggae shop in Canada
80,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Toronto. Most of the women were offered free training in nursing and teaching. Suddenly, the entire school system was filled with Jamaican teachers, who did an amazing job, btw. But that is where the 'Toronto accent' comes from. We were all taught English by Jamaicans. I still catch myself doing it. Snow is from Toronto, and grew up in that era. And we pronounce it 'Churrona', not Toe-Ron-Toe.
Snow has done tracks with Jr. Reid.. Michael Rose from Black Uhuru, Ninja Man and several other Amazing Reggae Artists !!! He is Massive in Jamaica !!! Don’t sleep on this Fella !!
The funny thing about Snow is nobody but Jamaicans know what he is saying but everyone knows he got it down right even if they can't understand it. I've never heard anyone say he just making words up.
![25 Yr Old Reacts To Snow - Informer (Official Music Video) [4K Remaster]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZyQI6PVNsMI/mqdefault.jpg)
He grew up in a Jamaican area of Toronto and speaks Patois.
Allenbury is the project, right by Fairview mall.
THANK YOU, that part!!!
SNOW's VLAD interview
th-cam.com/video/hOIe9UZo9c8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IQifOlfR2gSMdpXW
I grew up in southern Wisconsin and am white.
This track, and ini kamoze, were the best things on my radio when I wanted to hear something with riddem. ❤🎉
Yes in Little Jamaica ❤
He's hugely respected in Jamaica.
Jamaicans: Hey, we love our boy SNOW🖤💛💚
Americans: CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!!!
Ya song is fire this was a bit of an embarrassing reaction.
I think he's Canadian
@@CJH-zx3cpyeah,he's Canadian and grew up in a predominantly Jamaican neighborhood up there,I thought it was bullshit but apparently there's Jamaican neighborhoods in Canada
@@uttasyda9746I was surprised to find out that yeah he was a legit thug from a Jamaican neighborhood. Not cultural appropriation. Just a white kid in a black neighborhood. Culture is whatever you soak up around you. (Always thought he looked like that one dude from Color Me Bad.)
I guess he cannot like rock or country anymore. Sound good? No more punk rock reactions for him. It is an embarrassing reaction.
Friendly reminder, Culture is shared, not owned.
And Jamaicans don’t hate on Snow.
Exactly. Everybody takes from someone else. Maybe if he wasnt jamacain but just a black amercian then that would be fine 😮
Been listening to this song for 30 years, and I still have no clue WTF he is saying! 🤣 Banger none the less!
That's the joke, the song isn't about anything but him getting a cavity search after being arrested for beating a guy with a crowbar (true story, he was arrested and spent 8 months in jail in 1987). Lmao. The rest of it is just him rapping about not being a snitch.
It's way more fun to just make up your own lyrics lol
He's Jamaican
@@KrisWaldrup 😂😂
From Toronto Canada @@michaeltaylor8835
Snow grew up in the Jamaican area of Toronto Canada and that was what he knew and grew up around. He loved the music and styles and infused it into his music(rap). I personally would listen to Snow over Vanilla Ice anyday lol! thanks for sharing Black Pegasus :)
Can you imagine if he tried this today 😅
He'd probably get locked up...definitely shot 😮
"Jamaican area of Toronto" - Lol.
@@eriklarson9137 Toronto has an extensive black community, particularly from the islands.
@@eriklarson9137 I guess just like in New York...Little Jamaica, also known as Eglinton West, is an ethnic enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. :P
But who do you want to renovate your house???
All of us in 7th grade - "Informer! kfalkfjjdfh;lkdjfdf, a leaky boom boom, meow!"
😅😅😅
Meow??? Oh, I laughed way too hard at that!😂😂 hadn't heard that version
For us, it was
I lick your boomboom there...😂
Then Black Eyed Peas came along and stole that for their leaky boom boom pow song.
@@heavin6586 We thought it was I licky boom boom down 😂
@@DehydratedHumor🤣🤣🤣
He grew up on patois and he's more gangster than most rappers who claimed to be from Compton^^ I think even when the single came out and blew up he was in jail. he was a wild boy.
This.
Yeah, he was locked up, all his cellmates were stoked waiting for the premier
That’s a true story he was in jail for something to do with killing someone
He was in prison with his father and his uncle! 😂❤
Couldn't leave Canada to tour due to being a felon
I watched a interview from Snow in Jamaica. They asked him what coming there the first time around was like (The interview was 20 years or so later) and he said he wasn't sure how we was going to be received. They embraced him wholeheartedly and show nothing but love. He lives there now I do believe
Snow was an acronym nickname bestowed on him by his black friends, it stands for "Superb Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy".
He continued to make reggae, and is apparently very popular in Jamaica.
Scarborough!
I think regardless of your race, if you grow up surrounded by the culture with your friends and neighbours and you speak the language you get to celebrate the culture that influenced you and your love for music.
That’s kind of what culture is I recon as opposed to heritage
@@jonmoore873 Yeah exactly. Many get born into a heritage and don't participate in the culture. Without the culture the heritage dies.
No... sorry. We judge strictly based on skin tone here sir. For example Drake was on a Disney channel show and Migos are affluent suburbanites, yet they represent "the culture" more than a white kid from 8Mile Detroit or from white trash poverty that makes any urban hood look like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
That’s why I don’t hate Elvis. He was so poor, he was even poorer than the black people he grew up with in Tupelo and Memphis. What other music was he going to sing growing up in that environment? He learned to sing in a black church.
This. Culture is shared, not owned.
The black guy getting locked up was DJ Marvin Prince who was a close friend of Snow at the time. He was the one who gave Snow his name and helped jumpstart his career.
I'm a white guy who grew up in a housing complex in Toronto (Scarborough) in the 80's. I had a lot of Jamaican friends and listened to a lot of dancehall. It was a little bit more niche in the 80's and where you grew up and who you grew up with influenced you, but into the 90's it became mainstream across the city and a lot of Toronto slang has Jamaican origin.
Was in Galloway in the 80s. My building had a ton of Trinis but there were a good number of Jamaicans. My friends' dad used to collectively call us the Oreo squad because I was their token white kid.
If you notice, often when he says "leaky boom boom down" he makes gun shooting gestures with his hands. An informer is a leak, the leak gets two shots and goes down... leaky boom boom down. People who gave the lyrics you read sucked at listening worse than your average person.
That cell mate was his homey, and the smile was him recognizing that neither of them turn "Informant"
Thank you. I was looking for that comment.
coming to think about it snow is honestly one of the most down to earth laid back people I've ever met... he's also someone who would likely do an interview if you and don reached out.
He is the real deal
1987, Snow served eight months of a one-year sentence after pleading guilty to beating a person with a crowbar during a bar brawl.[3] Upon Snow's release in January 1988, the Jamaican-born DJ Marvin Prince saw O'Brien deejaying at a party and the two became friends. For the next few years, they practiced in Prince's basement, and played parties, with Snow providing vocals and Prince playing records. Prince, who would claim that he helped Snow refine his reggae singing and use of the Jamaican dialect, and that he came up with the name 'Snow', told the Los Angeles Times that they passed around a lot of tapes but could not get Snow signed because he was white.[
Man you need to do some research. SNOW grew up with all black friends and was like one of their brothers... and the song is about snitching and getting your ass shot
Damn and I thought it was about that skibiddy down my leg, to lick my bum bum down....I was wrong
Also an accused attempted murderer who did stab a guy and did do time! Harder than 95% of the rappers out there, Snow is a real one.
I used AI to translate the lyrics to plain english:
Someone betrayed me and set me up,
Now the police think I’m out of luck.
They’re saying I attacked someone,
But it’s not true-I’m not the one.
The police showed up and broke down my door,
They even tried crawling across the floor.
They threw me in the car and took me away,
Straight to the station, no time to delay.
The informer lied to ruin my name,
But I’m innocent; I’m not to blame.
For now, I’m stuck inside this cell,
But I’ll prove my truth and break this spell.
Whenever I speak, they won’t hear me out,
They think I’m guilty, but I have no doubt-
The real criminal who caused this pain,
Is the informer who sang my name.
Wow that's actually pretty good! I did crack up first cause I never knew he was saying this😂
The way it still rhymes, haha
Wow I never new what he was saying! Thank you for the translation!
I once nervously watched a Jamaican react to this and I was worried she was going to shit all over this song I have loved for 30 years. As it turns out he’s really talking his shit here.
Did she have a red dress on?
I think I've seen that one. First reactor I've seen that didn't say she didn't understand him, but was just commenting on the lyrics
it's actually a true story he was falsely accused of attempted murder and spend time away in prison for something he did not do and when he says that he was with a young lady the whole night it was his alibi they still didn't believe him it's actually kind of a crazy story but he has other songs you should check out too just saying he's pretty awesome and very proud that he's Canadian
Not falsely accused, he beat a guy with a crowbar and spent 8 months in jail.
51st state!
@@PatRyan-c7zno,that was a diff incident in 87
@haileyn4219 Crap. You're right. Forgot about the 2 counts of attempted murder in 89. Oops.
I believe Tammy was that girl. The lovea who him love from him heart down to him belly.
He's Canadian and grew up in a Jamaican neighbourhood in Toronto!! We Torontonians actually like this song.
Allenbury! He and I both went to Georges Vanier.
@@torontofreddy8688 AY here lol
That is Jamaican Patois he's using not gibberish. It's an actual language in fact Bob Marley was fluent.
It's not actual patois. It is gibberish with basic patois words randomly inserted into it. The grammar is off and he incorrectly pronounces a bunch of stuff. "Lick-a-shot" was a patois phrase when this came out, he turned it into "licky boom-boom down" bc he is a fraud.
The german Reggae artist Gentleman is fluent too.
@@cptight88 It's a mixture of different languages and slang called Multicultural Toronto English, actually.
@@CidsaDragoon Exactly. Toronto street slang is basically this, or was in the early 90s.
@@cptight88 that hasn't been the reaction I've seen from more than one patois-speaking reactor, and bear in mind there is dialectilization everywhere that Jamaican patois exist
'Cultural appropriation' is an amorphous, vague term that doesn't mean anything. You are part of whatever culture you're exposed to, regardless of what you look like or where you're born.
Cultural appropriation is in fact a real and specific term but unfortunately people do what they do, use terms incorrectly and ruin them. This is not cultural appropriation, he grew up in this cultural and acquired this cultural the same way anyone does no matter their skin color. That's not appropriation, so I agree with your clarification in this use case though there is in fact uses for the term people misuse
Mostly this stems from people not understanding the usage of "appropriation"... first definition in the dictionary when you look it up
"the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission."
As you point out that's not applicable to a culture someone is exposed to naturally.
People who misuse that term are the reason we can't have nice things.
@@M4ttNet The term is not applicable to any culture. A culture cannot be 'owned'. How do they own it? Do they keep it in a box? You can't appropriate something that is not the owned by any specific person. You can't 'steal' it because the the person you supposedly 'stole' it from still has it.
This is what I meant by 'cultural appropriation' being a vague, meaningless term. It's just one of many recently fabricated terms used to divide people via fabricated virtue signalling.
I find it interesting that we encourage globalism, the mixing of the races, and access to diversity, but when someone is inspired by that access to diversity, we clutch our pearls and scream appropriation. We didn't do that back in the 90s - it was just called inspiration and creativity. We weren't so overly sensitive as we are now.... which by the way, is the killer of creativity.
@@VertigoGirl-g1o Absolutely! Thank you for saying that. It's so infuriating watching his reaction for that reason. I also recall his reaction to Simply Red's "If you don't Know me by now" he saw Mick Hucknalls hand in the video before his face was revealed and was surprised by the soulful voice stating "I'm colourblind of course" (yeah sure) but that he didn't expect "that voice to come from that hand, if you know what I mean". Do certain people have a monopoly in his view on soulful voices and what music he thinks they can and can't sing. Fool.
Snow is more gangsta and more genuine than everyone else watching this reaction or posting on it. It's just how it is.
I love that interview where the girl reporter is asking him about why he was in prison and he's like "you know, attempted murder, stuff like that" like it was just normal charges LOL.
Ironic
Dude. Culture has nothing to do with skin colour.
Actually it does. Smh 🤔
@@LadybugLuv Not Always.
@@LadybugLuv, no it doesn't.
You mean to say sometimes it doesn’t.
Well only to a point and not always.....
Snow was born and raised in CANADA. He's a Canadian reggae musician. His parents are Irish-Canadian.
Grew up with the Jamaicans in Toronto, this is based on a true story of when he was pulled into a police station and didn't rat on his on his bro's. The only sad thing about the video is that you are judging him by his color and not his culture, or most of all his talent.
I met him at a petro Canada gas station at Kennedy and Finch in Scarborough. It was years after his hit and he pulled into the gas station with the windows down playing his own music. I thought he was a punk but when paying, I met him in the gas station and he was not a bad guy. Gave me an autograph for my wife.
Holy crap…I know Kennedy and finch! and the Petro Canada you are referring to. I grew up close by- Kennedy/Birchmount and huntingwood. I went to Leacock. Small world !
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hotstepper!😅
Ini Kamoze world a music.
@@pathofchaos786 love it
Yes, great suggestion
He grew up in a project in Canada w/a lot of Jamaican immigrants. He learned to speak Potois as a youngin, which is quite evident here.
“Informer! You know, say Daddy-me-Snow, me I’ll go blam / A licky boom-boom down!” That lyric about gunning down snitches like “licking shots”.
I think it's "lick[shoot] ya [your] boom-boom [ass] down."
Informer fi dead!
The "licky-boom-boom down" thing is part of a Jamaican patois thing that they also use in Jamaican communities in Toronto use, where Snow is from. lick-a-boom-boom is gunshots and "down" is dead.
Growing up he had a strong interest in rock music, but after there was an influx of Jamaican immigrants to the neighborhood in 1983, his interest turned to reggae music, and he became adept at the use of the Jamaican dialect, or Jamaican Patois.
Snow is one of the realest to do it. From a criminal family too.
Been listening to this since I was a kid in primary school and still slaps today.
Underrated and often mocked.
Snow grew up in a rougher neighborhood than most rappers did lol. Color is only skin deep, this dude lived it.
As someone who's from a similar generation as you I'm very surprised you haven't heard of Snow, but then it could be because I'm Canadian and you're not. He was HUGE up here when this dropped and was played on Much Music all the time. I know to Americans it seems a bit weird that a Canadian would be speaking in Patois, but until you visit certain neighborhoods in Toronto you probably won't realize how many Jamaicans and West Indies people we have here. You would think that the Jamaican community didn't like Snow, but in fact they really embraced him for the most part. To this day, I think his collaboration with several Dancehall legends on the "Anything For You" remix is considered a classic in Jamaica. I recommend you check it out.
This song was big "over the pond" as well, even if we new next to nothing about the artist himself.
Canada has to play a certain amount of Canadian music.. bit I don't think he was able to travel and play shows much, because his charges didn't let him get into certain countries..
Back in my day I had to try and write these mother trucking words down while playing and pausing my tape deck every two seconds. Those were the days.
Snow blacker than drake
"My white brother, Talcum X" 😂
When I saw this reaction, I had to tune in to watch you get your Mind Blown! I saw this Coming...lol I'm 60 and have been listening to Snow since Day 1!... Welcome to the Party....lol
He saw his own music video in jail, serving an 8 month sentence for assault in '92.. but he wrote the song about this...
The song is based on a separate 1989 incident when Snow was charged with two counts of attempted murder. At the time, he was detained for a year in Toronto before the charges were reduced to aggravated assault, and he was eventually acquitted and freed
So many people thought he was a poser because of Vanilla Ice.
But this dude grew up in a Toronto neighborhood that had a ton of Jamaican immigrants, so this is the culture and music he came up around. He's as real as you can get.
Like, not being able to tour and promote the song because he was in lockup real..
I was a teen when i first heard this. ❤. Loved this song growing up
The lyrics sound just like the way the Jamaicans would talk when I worked with them while picking Tobacco in SW Ontario.
did you pick in Leamington ?
@@fasteddie777666 No it had to be Tilsonburg - his back still aches when he hears that word.
@@mookie7688 BAHAHAAA......yeah close to me in Windsor....
@@mookie7688 Calton, Aylmer & Copenhagen buyt close enough. But my Back does still ache when I hear the word Tilsonburg. Good old Stompin Tom🤣
@@fasteddie777666 Aylmer, Calton & Copenhagen
DJ Marvin Prince introduced Snow to MC Shan and they made this song a licky boom boom down sort of means shooting somebody dead I think it is Jamaican rasta-reggae he lived in a Rasta Jamaican neighbourhood he did 1 year in prison for attempted murder but was released MC Shan is in the video.
Kid Rock and now Snow, you're hitting all my nostalgia buttons!
Todd in the Shadows covered this song for his "One Hit Wonderland" series. And his career was tanked by the fact that he actaully was gangster enough to be in jail when this song blew up. He's Canadian, and was stuck in Canada for Ten Months, and then was stuck there on Probation, and couldn't leave Canada. He couldn't go to NYC and do any support or do any touring. I definately recommend watching Todd's video on this song, and Snow's career, or lack thereoff.
Their song writing is perfect! The lyrics flow in perfect cadence to get the message across without tripping over your words.
Snow gonna hit you up in the comments. Super cool and down to earth dude. This was a banger in the 90’s with the amp & Kicker subs!!! #classof92 💪
The Jamaican neighbourhood he grew up in was pretty rough at the time too, a lot of gangs and gun violence (by Canadian standards)
He lived in an area that had large influx of Jamaicans and got hooked on Reggae. 2 Inches of Snow was released in 1992, while Snow was in prison. Another Canadian Rap group, you should check out is Organized Rhyme that had Tom Green as MC Bones.
I thought the Snow album was called " 12 Inches of Snow".
@@donnajean3202 My bad Typo on my part.
Snow grew up in a Jamaican community in of all places Canada. This came out while he was actually in jail. The song is telling the guy that snitched on him what’s going to happen when he gets out.
Of all place? Toronto has a huge Caribbean population. Got it's own Caribana festival and everything.
He got huge respect in Jamaica, this is also holds 2 Guinness records for highest charting and best selling reggae song in history...I grew up in Toronto 🇨🇦, where snow is from, and as a whiteboy in the 90s i had to learn to at least understand patois to get by since even my white friends spoke it lmao
I've actually met Snow before at a party and he is a real chill guy
When I was a little kid, I had this uncanny ability to memorize the words of songs. And this song was on the radio a lot, so I started rapping along, and my parents thought it was hilarious. So, think I was like 5 or 6, they made me do it on the karaoke stage at the mall. I used to have to endure the aging VHS every holiday. Then like 20 years ago, my neighbor bangs on my door, he won some settlement, bought a bunch of coke, and insisted we go do karaoke at Chopsticks. The mood hit me, and I did this song once more. And later "Don't Take Me Alive" by Steely Dan. Good memories.
He was literally in prison charged with murder when this video debuted. He filmed this while awaiting sentencing. He grew up in the Jamaican projects in Canada - the song means "U'll shoot the snitch".
He grew up in the Jane & Finch hood in Toronto. A predominantly black/Jamaican neighbourhood. You should react to some of the other OG Canadian rappers from the same era like Maestro Fresh Wes, Dream Warriors, Michie Mee, etc
I’m pretty sure BP mentioned that he used to tour with Swollen Members
Kardinal, K-os & Choclair are also great Toronto classic hip hop.
@@gingerkid1048 yeah. and Kish... I Rhyme The World in 80 Days 😂... remember him? I went to school with his DJ, Supreme. He was my source for a ton of mixtapes.
Not from Jane and Finch, grew up in the projects right behind Fairview Mall. Don Mills and Sheppard area.
His area of Toronto had a huge influx of Jamaican migration around the time he turned 11 or so and he became really into the culture and the music, lol
Thanks we are nice people most of us anyways 😄 🇨🇦
This song will always be great! ❤
It's about time someone reacted to Snow!
There are plenty of reactions to this song. I've seen 10 at least. But most of them don't understand anything.
@hnorrstrom Really who? I want to see them. I honestly haven't specifically looked but this is the first 1 I have stumbled on.
Just search for snow informer and reaction videos.
I wrote a long freaking answer but TH-cam apparently deleted it. Likely because I named a few....
@@Mike_Auchismahul Look for the Jamaican woman who actually understands all the lyrics. Best one.
Was waiting for this 😄 good choice, can't go wrong with classics. *A licky boom-boom down, he means, I’ll shoot down the informer / I’ll knock the informer out* He lived not far from where I lived in Toronto, this song never gets old and brings back good memories. Great reaction as always, I enjoyed this ☺💖👍💯 Thank you. Love from Canada 🍁
It may come as a surprise, but Snow is the real deal, he grew up in a ghetto from Toronto. Toronto is the second capital of reggae in the world, after Kingston, people there just love all the genres of reggae, from ragga to dancehal, they just go crazy for it and there is a big culture of music. This guy story is really interesting, you should check it. The video and all the stuff was put together in the US and the album "12 Inches of Snow" was produced by MC Shan. Snow then came back to Canada where he went to jail and then was denied to come back to the US, so he became an instant celebrity without the ability to promote his album in any way. He then was forced to promote himself and release the new albums outside the US, and people in Jamaica love him, he have some works with some of the heavy weights of Jamaica which love him very much.
Snow watched this song blow up whilst locked up in prison! His story is pretty crazy.
Snow is a rudebwoy. He’s the real deal and insanely talented
I was born and raised in Toronto. I can also speak Jamaican. I dated a few, and my maid of honour, my best friend is Jamaican. We are not a melting pot. We are a unite and appreciate. Each culture, is a human equal to us and it intrigued us born there where we were just sponges for the newbies and always excited to meet them. I was always the first girl in high school to introduce myself to someone new. I loved that shit. I learned lots, I'm a multicultural cook, I love everyone as my sibling. Big hugs. This guy is probably in jail. He seems like a Jane/Finch victim.
Look up him and Shan guesting on some casual hip hop veteran gathering, and you'll be floored. Snow's the by far the bigest actual gangster of the bunch, like he's effortlessly more hood than anyone in the room to the point that they're all shocked and speechless when he and Shan start dropping anecdotes. 'So there I am in my prison cell with my father and my uncle Paddy' is an actual quote 😂 i mean, the Irish made the surname Hooligan become a byword for 'hood' to this day 🤣
And a donnybrook is a pitched street battle. Named after a place in Dublin, Ireland
Do you have a link?
Talcum X. I heard it hear first. Love you BP, great reaction.
Lmao when this song came out, my bestie and I spent the day tryna memorize the words. Still remember them all today 😂Snow, my Canadian brother from another mother
Thing is, this gets in your head. I'll be humming this for the next week. I blame you. 😂
I am like the whitest middle aged Canadian woman and I cannot stop laughing at Talcum X. We loved Snow. He grew up in Jamaican Toronto and he was totally accepted by the community.
Toronto is a wild city for neighbourhoods.
Im rolling 😂😂😂 with how you reading the lyrics 😂😂
As others have said he grew up in the Jamaican area of Toronto, and he was actually in jail when this released.
Feels like just yesterday I was binge listening to this single
LOOOOOOOVE YOUR CHANNEL!!! (All respect and love, your intros are too long but worth it to get to the good stuff)
Snow did 2 stretches in the late 80's. Once for a double-stabbing in a Toronto alley. That's what he's talking about in the chorus. He also nearly killed a guy when he beat him mercilessly with a crowbar.
This song is used in a Daddy Yankee song called Con Calma. I believe Daddy Yankee asked his permission to use this song as part of the chorus for Con Calma. Snow even got credited as a featuring artist, even tho I think he didnt actually sing in it.
He is singing it in parts and in the video.
@silkeotd7194 which parts?
i am from Toronto and yes back in the 90's Toronto was bad and still is he is madly respected in Toronto and jamaica
He grew up in the projects around Jamaicans and he wrote this while in prison for a charge that he did not snitch on
Dude that came in the cell is Prince. That was his homie back then. He was in jail when this was released.
Check out "Runway" by him
He smiled because that was his homie and he didn't snitch.
i’ve been waiting for this one 💀💀💀
And I see this is a new reaction and I live in Scarborough which is a suburb of Toronto which is where Snow originates😊😊😊 and we have a large Jamaican population here and the food is amazing😅😅😅
At least you looked up the lyrics, this snow reaction rabbit hole has been a ride, hope he comments on your vid, also he’s smiling coarse his mate didn’t snitch
Finally a Classic lol
I wish - skee-lo next please
😂😂😂😂 I can’t stop laughing and remember back 30 plus years ago.
One of the GREATEST songs and music videos in human history! No cap! I used to blast Snow and Bubba Sparxx on the radio back in the day.
"No cap" and "back in the day" used in the same sentence. I'm guessing your in your late 40's to early 50's with teenage to early 20 yo kids 😁
@@markpotter8280"Cap" been around since the 80's...kiddos today didn't come up with anything new
When this song blew up he was locked up. His first time seeing the video was on a tv in jail.
Bob from the Financial department spitting Fire !!!! :))))
A big Jamaican influence there, my ex is a DJ that plays in multiple Reggae clubs, and even takes a portable record player and plays on the streets, one of my favourite Jamaican legends lives there. Stranger Cole, he was the first to open Ska/Reggae shop in Canada
80,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Toronto. Most of the women were offered free training in nursing and teaching. Suddenly, the entire school system was filled with Jamaican teachers, who did an amazing job, btw.
But that is where the 'Toronto accent' comes from. We were all taught English by Jamaicans. I still catch myself doing it. Snow is from Toronto, and grew up in that era.
And we pronounce it 'Churrona', not Toe-Ron-Toe.
Churrona? Lolol that's a lie
@@endor8witch And that's how we know you're not born in Toronto.
@@SlipCycled stop lying to people...
@@endor8witch Even The Hip called it Churrona in the song, hun. Just because you don't know, doesn't mean I'm lying.
It just means you're wrong.
@@SlipCycled omg we get the joke but srsly, stop trolling lol
For 30 years I have turned this song up and sang every lyric like I know exactly what is being said.
Snow watched the MTV Premier for this video on the common area TV in jail.
The MC Shan song you meant was 'The Bridge'. The song you referenced is 'The Bridge is Over', by Boogie Down Productions (KRS-ONE).
I lived in North York Ontario Canada and there is a Jamaican town there
Snow has done tracks with Jr. Reid.. Michael Rose from Black Uhuru, Ninja Man and several other Amazing Reggae Artists !!! He is Massive in Jamaica !!! Don’t sleep on this Fella !!
The funny thing about Snow is nobody but Jamaicans know what he is saying but everyone knows he got it down right even if they can't understand it. I've never heard anyone say he just making words up.
I just watched a black guy looking like a white guy trying to speak like a Jamaican, while watching a white guy rap like a Jamaican.......WTF🤣👏
Snow´ll do that to you.