Gentleman (musician)
Gentleman | |
|---|---|
Tilmann Otto a.k.a. Gentleman (2013) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Tilmann Otto 19 April 1974 Osnabrück, Germany |
| Origin | Cologne, Germany |
| Genres | Reggae, roots reggae, dancehall, reggae fusion |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Label | Universal Music Group |
| Website | gentleman-music |
Tilmann Otto (born 19 April 1974), better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a German reggae musician.
Personal life
Gentleman lives in the Neubrück area of Cologne.[1] He is the son of a Lutheran pastor and is the father of two children named Samuel and Charly. He is married to Tamika, a singer which has supported him since his first concert tour of Germany in 2002. Although regularly on tour and in the studio, Gentleman generally considers himself a rather family oriented person, which becomes apparent in his music projects such as his long-player Journey to Jah, which was inspired by the birth of his first son Samuel.[2] His song Mama from the collaborative album Conversations that he recorded with Ky-Mani Marley deals with his deep spiritual relationship to his mother.[3]
Music
Gentleman has travelled to Jamaica regularly since he was 18 years old.[1] His career began with the collaboration of the band Freundeskreis which produced the song "Tabula Rasa". After beginning his career as a deejay, he based his style to the classic form of the reggae genre like that of Bob Marley. He sings mainly in English or Jamaican Patois. With songs like "Send a Prayer", Gentleman expresses his deep belief in God. His album, Confidence, climbed to number 1 on the German album charts in 2004.
Gentleman was featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album.[4] In 2005, Gentleman performed with Mamadee with the song "Lass los" representing North Rhine-Westphalia in the Bundesvision Song Contest 2005, placing 15th with 10 points.[5]
After ten years releasing music under the label Four Music he moved to Universal in 2010.[6]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [7] |
AUT [8] |
SWI [9] |
NED [10] |
FRA [10] |
POL [11] | ||
| 1999 | Trodin On | 59 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2002 | Journey to Jah | 14 | 19 | 21 | – | – | – |
| 2003 | Gentleman & The Far East Band Live | 15 | 10 | 34 | – | – | – |
| 2004 | Confidence | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – |
| 2007 | Another Intensity | 2 | 5 | 2 | 72 | 75 | – |
| 2010 | Diversity | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 146 | 37 |
| 2011 | Diversity Live | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2012 | Live Your Life (with Richie Stephens) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2013 | New Day Dawn | 6 | 10 | 8 | – | – | – |
| 2014 | MTV Unplugged | 8 | 14 | 14 | – | – | – |
| 2016 | Conversations (with Ky-Mani Marley) | 8 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – |
| 2017 | The Selection | 14 | 17 | 22 | – | – | – |
| 2020 | Blaue Stunde | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2022 | Mad World | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [7] |
AUT [12] |
SWI [13] | ||
| 1998 | "Tabula Rasa" (feat. Freundeskreis & Mellowbag) | 13 | 18 | 6 |
| 1998 | "In the Heat of the Night" Trodin On |
– | – | – |
| 1999 | "Jah Jah Never Fail" Trodin On |
– | – | – |
| 2002 | "Leave Us Alone" Journey to Jah |
78 | – | – |
| 2002 | "Dem Gone" Journey to Jah |
81 | – | – |
| 2003 | "Runaway" Journey to Jah |
65 | – | – |
| 2003 | "Rainy Days" (feat. Tamika & Martin Jondo) Gentleman & The Far East Band Live |
88 | – | – |
| 2003 | "Widerstand" (feat. Curse) | 45 | – | – |
| 2004 | "Superior" Confidence |
20 | 20 | 76 |
| 2005 | "Isyankar" (feat. Mustafa Sandal) | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| 2005 | "Intoxication" Confidence |
33 | 58 | – |
| 2005 | "Send a Prayer" Confidence |
75 | – | – |
| 2006 | "On We Go" / "Caan Hold Us Down" Confidence & Soundtrack Hui Buh |
58 | 48 | 76 |
| 2007 | "Different Places" Another Intensity |
42 | 65 | – |
| 2007 | "Serenity" Another Intensity |
81 | – | 88 |
| 2007 | "Zeit zu verstehen (This Can't Be Everything)" (Azad feat. Gentleman) Blockschrift |
30 | 72 | – |
| 2008 | "Soulfood" / "Lack of Love" (feat. Sizzla) Another Intensity |
– | – | – |
| 2009 | "Changes" Diversity |
– | – | – |
| 2010 | "It No Pretty" Diversity |
19 | 24 | 33 |
| 2010 | "Roots to Grow" (Stefanie Heinzmann feat. Gentleman) Roots to Grow |
16 | 56 | 61 |
| 2010 | "To the Top" (feat. Christopher Martin) Diversity |
13 | 51 | 23 |
| 2013 | "You Remember" New Day Dawn |
19 | 24 | 33 |
| 2013 | "Heart of a Rub-a-Dub" New Day Dawn (deluxe) |
77 | – | – |
| 2016 | "Ahnma" (Beginner feat. Gzuz and Gentleman) | 8 | 55 | 65 |
| 2017 | "Ovaload" (feat. Sean Paul) | 78 | – | – |
| 2017 | "Shake Away" | – | – | 71 |
| 2017 | "Roots" (RAF Camora feat. Gentleman) | 42 | 36 | 52 |
| 2017 | "iD" (Michael Patrick Kelly feat. Gentleman) | 57 | – | 60 |
| 2018 | "Like a Lion" (Mark Forster feat. Gentleman) | 38 | – | 64 |
| 2020 | "Devam" (featuring Luciano and Ezhel) | 9 | 27 | 48 |
| 2020 | "Schöner Tag" (with Sido) | 27 | 49 | 38 |
EPs
- 1999: Heat of the Night
- 1999: Jah Jah Never Fail
- 2002: Leave Us Alone
- 2002: Dem Gone
- 2003: Rainy Days
- 2003: Runaway
- 2004: Superior
- 2005: Intoxication
- 2005: Send a Prayer
- 2006: On We Go / Caan Hold Us Down
- 2007: Different Places
- 2007: Serenity
- 2008: Soulfood / Lack of Love
- 2010: It No Pretty
- 2010: To the Top
- 2010: Lonely Days
DVDs
- 2003: Gentleman & The Far East Band Live
- 2011: Diversity Live
References
- ^ a b Kriesch, Adrian & Scholz, Jan-Philipp (2014) "German reggae in Africa, courtesy of Gentleman", Deutsche Welle, 26 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014
- ^ "Gentleman | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Gentleman Official Website. Recent album: Gentleman & Ky-Mani Marley - Conversations :: Bio english". www.gentleman-music.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Toots & the Maytals - True Love." Amazon. www.amazon.com. Web. <https://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Toots-Maytals/dp/B0001LUH56>. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ "Bundesvision Song Contest". fan-lexikon.de (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ "Gentleman, Kitty Kat wechseln zu Universal". Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Charts-Surfer: Suchergebnis". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Another Intensity by Gentleman - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Gentleman at AllMusic
- Gentleman @ fourmusic.com (as of 2001; archived at the Internet Archive)