Gentleman (musician)

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Gentleman
Tilmann Otto a.k.a. Gentleman (2013)
Tilmann Otto a.k.a. Gentleman (2013)
Background information
Birth nameTilmann Otto
Born (1974-04-19) 19 April 1974 (age 49)
Osnabrück, Germany
OriginCologne, Germany
GenresReggae, roots reggae, dancehall, reggae fusion
Years active1998–present
LabelsUniversal Music Group
Websitegentleman-music.com

Tilmann Otto (born 19 April 1974), better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a German reggae musician.

Personal life[edit]

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 Tamica. He is married to Tamika, a backing singer of the Far East Band, 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[edit]

Gentleman at the 2011 Ilosaarirock festival

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[edit]

Gentleman at Chiemsee Reggae Summer 2013
Gentleman (2013)

Albums[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  • 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[edit]

  • 2003: Gentleman & The Far East Band Live
  • 2011: Diversity Live

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kriesch, Adrian & Scholz, Jan-Philipp (2014) "German reggae in Africa, courtesy of Gentleman", Deutsche Welle, 26 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014
  2. ^ "Gentleman | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Gentleman Official Website. Recent album: Gentleman & Ky-Mani Marley - Conversations :: Bio english". www.gentleman-music.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Toots & the Maytals - True Love." Amazon. www.amazon.com. Web. <https://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Toots-Maytals/dp/B0001LUH56>. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Bundesvision Song Contest". fan-lexikon.de (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Gentleman, Kitty Kat wechseln zu Universal". Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Charts-Surfer: Suchergebnis". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  8. ^ Steffen Hung. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  9. ^ Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Another Intensity by Gentleman - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.

External links[edit]