Born: Devon Martin in England
Born to Jamaican parents in England, Devon grew up in Malton, Ontario, and listened to such different artists as Parliament, Bach, Charlie Parker, and Chic growing up. At the age of 14 Devon formed a band called Shock Waves and released an independent single in 1977. In the ensuing years this composer, writer, producer, and singer was involved in various projects. This included being a member of the seminal Toronto reggae band 20th Century Rebels (who released an album in 1983), appearing at folk festivals in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Halifax, regular performances with the 10-piece Toronto jam band Bong Conga Nistas, and a cross-country tour opening for Judy Mowatt and Lillian Allen. A member of a "we'll-back-anybody" rhythm section, Devon and other musicians played in cafes and dives anywhere and everywhere for about $50 a night. He toured Halifax as a guest rapper with Messenjah, and with his friend Ojiji of Messenjah he once played in a group called the Redeem Team backing Frankie Paul and Tiger.
While on tour in Los Angeles in 1989 with Lillian Allen, Devon inadvertently encountered some trouble one night with another black male and two white males in a Redondo Beach record store. While carrying cash to the safe, the cashier was overly concerned with their presence in the building and called the police. Devon and his black friend were summoned outside and rather roughly searched until their passports fell out of their pockets; the policemen apologized, explaining that the local kids were buying guns and "trying to kill us". Disturbed by what he experienced, he wrote a song and financed an independent video for "Mr. Metro" about violence and the proliferation of it in our society. Devon used several different local rallies as background footage and ended up in hot water with the local police, who considered charging him with the defamation of the characters of the policemen he included in his footage; eventually he had to block out the faces of people in the video in order to get it shown on the air. It went on to win a MuchMusic Video Award for R'n'B Video of the Year in 1990.
Devon was signed to Capitol-EMI and released his first solo album in 1992, entitled 'It's My Nature'.
Singles
1990 Mr. Metro (independent)
Albums
1992 It's My Nature (EMI)
Video
Compilation Tracks
Collaborations
with SHOCK WAVES
1977 [single with title unknown] (independent)
with THE 20th CENTURY REBELS
1983 The 20th Century Rebels [LP]
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