Tilmann Otto (born 19 April 1974), better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a German reggae musician.
Gentleman | |
|---|---|
 Tilmann Otto a.k.a. Gentleman (2013) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tilmann Otto |
| Born | 19 April 1974 Osnabrück, Germany |
| Origin | Cologne, Germany |
| Genres | Reggae, roots reggae, dancehall, reggae fusion |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Universal Music Group |
| Website | gentleman-music |
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 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
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
External links
- Official website
- Gentleman at AllMusic
- Gentleman @ fourmusic.com (as of 2001; archived at the Internet Archive)
