Mark Morrison

For other people named Mark Morrison, see Mark Morrison (disambiguation).
Mark Morrison
Born (1972-05-03) 3 May 1972
Hannover, West Germany
Origin Leicester, England
Genres
Years active 1993–present
Labels WEA, Death Row Records, Mack Life Records

Mark Morrison (born 3 May 1972) is a West German born British hip hop and R&B musical recording artist. His single, "Return of the Mack", became a number-one or Top 10 hit in several European countries in 1996. The song peaked at number 2 in the United States the following year.

Early life

Born in Hannover, West Germany, to Barbadian parents, he lived in Leicester, England and attended Rushey Mead School, before moving to Miami, Florida. At age 19, he moved back to England.

Career

Early career

Mark Morrison's first official recording was the 1993 vinyl release, Where Is Our Love, pressed on his own private Joe'Mel label.

Main career

In mid-1995, Morrison released his debut single, "Crazy", which became a Top 20 hit in the UK, and was a club favorite.[1] The follow-up single, "Let's Get Down", also entered the Top 40. They were followed in the spring of 1996 by "Return of the Mack" which became a smash international hit, spending two weeks at No. 1 on the UK charts.

His debut album, also titled Return of the Mack, followed and became a multi-platinum success. It reached number four in the UK chart and sold 3 million albums worldwide. It spun off several more hit singles over the next year: "Crazy (Remix)", "Trippin'", "Horny", and "Moan & Groan" would all reach the UK Top 10, making him the first artist in British pop history to have five Top 10 hits from a debut album.

Although his career was going well, Morrison was constantly in trouble with the police. In 1997, he was imprisoned. The same year he received numerous nominations: four Brit Awards nominations, a Mercury Prize nomination, an MTV Europe Music Awards nomination, and five Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO) nominations. "Return of the Mack" began to climb its way to No. 2 on the American Billboard charts, receiving platinum status. It stayed on the Billboard charts for a lengthy 40 weeks. Morrison had one minor US hit, 1997's "Moan & Groan," which went to number 76.

Morrison performed at the 1997 Brit Awards. The performance influenced WEA and Morrison to release Only God Can Judge Me, a nine-track EP which contains live performances, interviews, prayers, and three full-length songs including "Who's The Mack!" which reached No. 13 in the UK.

Legal issues

Morrison has faced various criminal charges during his career including a 1997 conviction for attempting to bring a firearm aboard an airliner for which he served three months just as his hit song, Return of the Mack, began rising up the US Billboard charts.[2][3] In 1998, he failed to appear in court on charges of possessing an offensive weapon, choosing to instead fly to the West Indies island of Barbados. He was arrested and remanded into custody upon his return to the United Kingdom.[4][5] He was later cleared of the offensive weapon charge.[6]

In 1999 he was convicted for armed robbery for holding up an Off licence.

He was convicted of affray for his part in a brawl resulting in one fatality and sentenced to community service.[3] Morrison later was incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs for a year for paying a lookalike to perform his court-appointed community service in his stead, while Morrison himself went on tour.[3][7] While in prison, Morrison reportedly converted to Islam and attempted to change his name to Abdul Rahman.[8] Also in 1998, Morrison was banned from driving for six months and fined £1,380 after twice being caught driving without a licence.[9]

In 2002, Morrison was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and car theft.[10] He was released on bail but a policemen was later arrested on suspicion of taking a bribe from Morrison in return for his release.[10] Morrison failed to appear in court to face the charges and a warrant was issued for his arrest.[10]

In 2004, he was arrested and spent a night in custody, after a fracas in which a platinum and diamond medallion was snatched from around his neck during a confrontation at a Leicester nightclub.[11]

In 2009, Morrison was arrested for an assault in London.[12]

Return to music

Morrison appeared on the 1999 Brit Awards where he presented an award, introduced Whitney Houston and announced his return to music. In September 1999, a single titled "Best Friend" featuring Connor Reeves & Gabrielle became Morrison's ninth Top 40 hit single, reaching No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.[13] The following year, it was announced by Billboard that Morrison had signed a five-year worldwide deal with Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight, making him the first, and only, European (British) artist to be signed with Death Row Records.[14]

He later signed to soccer player Kevin Campbell's 2 Wikid label in 2003. His only release for the label, a single entitled "Just a Man"/"Backstabbers", was a minor UK hit, reaching No. 48 in the UK Singles Chart in August 2004.[15]

In May 2006, Morrison released the limited edition CD/DVD album entitled Innocent Man in the United Kingdom on his private label, Mack Life Records/Mona Records. The title track, "Innocent Man", featuring DMX was released in March 2006. It was well received and reached No. 46 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2007, he was featured on hip-hop artist Cassidy's single titled "Innocent (Misunderstood)" from the B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story album. The track sampled Morrison's vocals from "Innocent Man", and charted on Billboard's Bubbling Under Singles chart.

On 29 January 2007, he released the single titled "Dance 4 Me" featuring Tanya Stephens. It was the fourth single to be released from his album Innocent Man. The official music video was directed by Ray Kay. For unknown reasons, to this date the single remains unreleased and was removed from purchase shortly after release.[16]

In 2008, Morrison announced the release of a greatest hits compilation, King of British R&B: The Best Of.. Mark Morrison, although it remains unreleased.[17]

In 2010, he announced the planned release of a new album entitled I Am What I Am. Plans for a world-wide tour to accompany the new release were also announced.

In 2012, Mark Morrison appeared as a guest feature on Houston rapper Trae tha Truth's "I'm on 2.0" which featured notable rappers Big K.R.I.T., Jadakiss, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, B.o.B, Tyga, Gudda Gudda and Bun B. A music video for "I'm on 2.0" starring Morrison and all artists featured was released on June 3.[18] Also in June 2012, he announced the release of a new single titled "Ain't No Good". The single was set to be released July 29, 2013 and paid homage to the charity Refuge. The single was unsuccessful, and shelved before release. It would ultimately remain unreleased.[19]

In June 2013, Morrison released the music video[20] to "I Am What I Am" shot by DIS Guise of Visionnaire Pictures, with the release date set for the single on iTunes of 1 September 2013.[21] Despite being a fan-favourite, the single was shelved, and removed from purchase before its release.

On 20 October 2013, he released a single titled "N.A.N.G. 2.0" featuring Crooked I & Shonie.[22]

On 7 July 2014, Morrison released an EP titled I Am What I Am. The EP included the singles "I Am What I Am" and "N.A.N.G. 2.0", with 5 additional new songs.

Discography

Studio albums
EPs

References

  1. ↑ "Mark Morrison Biography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen. "Mark Morrison Biography". Allmusic. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Lister, David (1998) "In the news: Mark Morrison – Pop star takes the ultimate rap for a life of living dangerously", The Independent, 25 March 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  4. ↑ "Mark Morrison Back In Custody After Jumping Bail", MTV, 18 March 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  5. ↑ "SLAMMERTIME! MARK MORRISON IN WORMWOOD SCRUBS", NME, 23 February 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  6. ↑ "Mark Morrison Not Guilty Of Offensive Weapon Charge", MTV, 27 March 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  7. ↑ Heawood, Sophie (2006) "'I'm the most real black artist in England'", The Guardian, 8 March 2006, retrieved 31 May 2010
  8. ↑ "Mark Morrison Changing Name", MTV, 28 October 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  9. ↑ "MORRISON'S TROUBLES CONTINUE", NME, 24 February 1998, retrieved 31 May 2010
  10. 1 2 3 "MARK MORRISON DRAMA – POLICEMAN ARRESTED", NME, 18 July 2002, retrieved 31 May 2010
  11. ↑ Youngs, Ian (2004) "R&B star Mark Morrison arrested", BBC, 2 August 2004, retrieved 31 May 2010
  12. ↑ "MORRISON FACING ASSAULT CHARGE AFTER ARREST", Daily Express, 12 June 2009, retrieved 31 May 2010
  13. ↑ Chart Stats
  14. ↑ Death Row Heads To U.K.
  15. ↑ Just a Man/Backstabbers, Chart Stats, retrieved 31 May 2010
  16. ↑ "Sunday Shopping List - 14/01/07", bbc.co.uk, 14 January 2007, retrieved 14 January 2007
  17. ↑ "Mark Morrison To Release 'Best Of' Album/European Tour", HipHop-Elements.com, 10 March 2008, retrieved 31 May 2010
  18. ↑ "I'm On 2.0 (Intro) | Trae Tha Truth | Music Video | MTV", MTV.com, 3 Jun 2012, retrieved 3 Jun 2012
  19. ↑ "Mark Morrison to release new single and album, embark on first worldwide tour", musicweek.com, 6 June 2012, retrieved 6 June 2012
  20. ↑ Mark Morrison – I Am What I Am. YouTube.
  21. ↑ "I Am What I Am (Remixes) - EP". iTunes.
  22. ↑ "Mark Morrison – N.A.N.G. 2.0 (feat. Crooked I & Shonie) – Single (2013) [iTunes]", mryoung.net, 24 November 2013, retrieved 24 November 2013
21. Return of the Mack '14 (Revamp Instrumental) Produced by Svengali

External links

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