DJ Collage
| DJ Collage | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lawrence Chatman |
| Also known as | Mista Chatman |
| Genres | Reggae fusion, Dancehall, Bhangra |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Lawrence Chatman, better known as DJ Collage or Mista Chatman, is a reggae vocalist and electronic music producer. Raised in Chicago, he moved to the Bay Area in the early 1990s, and now calls Seattle home. His style of music is referred to as reggae fusion.
Trained in the old school tradition of "ram dance" DJ chatting made popular by artists such as Yellowman, Nicodemus, and Super Cat, Collage began his musical career performing weekly guest spots with live Jamaican reggae bands at the famed Wild Hare nightclub on Chicago's north side. After relocating to California he had the opportunity to perform and tour with established reggae artists such as U-Roy, Ras Michael, Barrington Levy, Messenjah, Raskidus, The Heptones, and Nicodemus. His vocals appeared two top ten hits in the year 1994, one with the reggae soundsystem/band The Positive Sound Massive titled "Unity" and another with local ambient/breakbeat group Dubtribe titled "Mother Earth".
In the year 2000, Collage self-released the CD Uptown/Downtown. This five track EP featured Collage spitting dancehall lyrics over hip-hop and raggamuffin beats. The EP received radio airplay in the US and Europe and the track "New Type Sound" was licensed by BSI Records and appeared on the Docking Sequence compilation.
In 2002 Collage was a guest vocalist of Vienna's downtempo crew Sofa Surfers. His vocals appear on three tracks on their Encounters CD, and he was invited to go on a month-long European tour with the band to support the release. (It was released in the US in 2004 as See the Light via ESL records.) Collage went on to work with other Viennese groups such as Stereotyp, I-Wolf, Megablast, Kung Fu Divas & Blockwerk. During this time Collage was also a frequent guest of the Viennese ragga/jungle night- "Wicked" run by the Wickedsquad. This led to him being a featured vocalist in their first vinyl release "Domo-Kun-Bogle" which is accompanied by a video which portrays Collage in animated form.
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