Tilmann Otto (born 19 April 1974), better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a German reggae musician.
Contents
Personal life
Gentleman lives in the Neubrück area of Cologne. 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. His song Mama from the collaborative album Conversations that he recorded with Ky-Mani Marley deals with his deep spiritual relationship to his mother.
Music
Gentleman has travelled to Jamaica regularly since he was 18 years old. 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. 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.
After ten years releasing music under the label Four Music he moved to Universal in 2010.
Discography
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