Papa Dee
| Papa Dee | |
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Papa Dee during an interview at Götgatsbacken, Stockholm, on 2 June 2008.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Christopher Daniel Wahlgren |
| Also known as | Papa Dee |
| Born | 13 July 1966 |
| Origin | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Genres | Rap, ragga, dancehall |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Associated acts | The Bitter Twins Stonefunkers Brooklyn Funk Essentials |
| Website | Official website |
David Christopher Daniel Wahlgren (born 13 July 1966), better known by the stage name Papa Dee, is a Swedish rap, ragga and dancehall musician. His most commercially successful track is his version of the Cat Stevens song "The First Cut Is the Deepest".
Contents
Music career
Wahlgren debuted in 1988 with the single "Funky Raggamuffin/Let the Music Play", a mixture of dancehall and hip hop. He then joined the Stonefunkers and became the group's rapper. This was followed by a few years of cooperation with Rob'n'Raz. Wahlgren then went solo, and had his breakthrough in 1990 with the album Lettin' Off Steam, which was predominantly hip hop and dancehall. His next album, One Step Ahead, had elements of soul and reggae, mixing song and rap. His 1994 release, Original Master, produced by Denniz Pop at Cheiron Studio, incorporated Euro disco into his music.
During the 1990s and 2000s he released several albums, often in cooperation with Desmond Foster and a couple with Soundism. 2001, Soundism also produced the Papa Dee song "Hottie Hottie Girls" featuring Lady Saw,[1] Jamaica's prime female dancehall star. Kent (Gillström) Isaacs also produced a couple of Papa Dee's more dared and innovative albums. One of the albums they did together was the cover album, recorded in Jamaica, with reggae musicians including Horse-Mouth, Flabba Holt and Chinna Smith. He is also a member of The Brooklyn Funk Essentials and of Dubchek with David Barratt.
His songs have been featured in several feature films including Predator 2, starring Danny Glover. In 1997 Dubchek made music for the critically acclaimed Two Girls and a Guy featuring Robert Downey, Jr. and Heather Graham. In the Swedish feature film/comedy Smala Sussie Papa Dee was credited both featuring as himself onscreen and as songwriter.
PD composed music for the stage (Top Dog/ Underdog at Stockholms Stadsteater)
Due to his prolific yet flexible imprint Papa Dee has enjoyed a successful career as one of Sweden’s most sought after voice artists dubbing cartoons and movies alike.
He took on Eddie Murphy’s character in Mulan (1998) and Mulan 2 (2005) as Mushu.
In Snow Dogs (2002) he rendered Cuba Gooding Jr's character .
Replacing Will Smith in the Swedish release of Shark Tale/Hajar (2004) he featured as Oscar.
In Space Chimps (2008) he voiced Andy Samberg's character Ham 3.
As founding member of the NYC groove collective Brooklyn Funk Essentials he has recorded 4 full-length albums:
Cool and Steady and Easy (1994)
In the Buzz Bag (1998)
Make Them Like It (2000)
Watcha Playin’ (2009)
As Dubchek with David Barrat, Papa Dee recorded full-length albums
Down Memory Gap Lane (1998)
The Far East End (2010)
Highlights as featuring guest artist include:
Leftfield's Leftism on the track Release the Pressure (1995)
Titiyo My body says yes (1990)
Mad Professor compilation DJ’ s Choice Tribute to MLK (1990)
Diana King's album Respect (2002) in the duet Keep It On The Downlow
In 2001 Chrysler used his track ”Ispy” for its worldwide commercial.
Between 2000-2008 Papa Dee hosted his own radio show, P3 Rytm for SR, the Swedish National Radio Network
2012: Back on the move Papa Dee’s currently working on his book Was Jean Baptiste Bernadotte a blackman? and his upcoming album Fall From Grace is in the final stages.
Personal life
Wahlgren was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to a Swedish mother and a Ghanaian father.[2] His father left the family when he was a small child.[3]
On 14 September 2008 Wahlgren was arrested; three days later he was charged (Swedish: Häktningbeslut) with grave assault (Swedish: grov misshandel) with bodily harm to his wife.[4][5] On 20 October 2008, a Swedish lower court found him guilty of a lesser charge of assault (Swedish: misshandel), and he was fined.[6][7][8] His wife categorically denied that maltreatment had taken place.[4][9]
In the 2010 re-trial all other charges were dropped. Papa Dee was furthermore reimbursed by the State due to the treatment and unlawful detention he’d been subject to.
As a consequence of the stress caused Papa Dee’s health deteriorated. He went through heart surgery in 2010.
His wife Andrea Wahlgren, (denying the allegations and never heard in court) wrote a book, ”En Fjärils Kamp” (A Butterfly’s Struggle) fuelled by the experience that no one wanted to hear her side of the events. It was released on www.vulkan.se (print on demand) and on the internet.
Discography
Albums
- Lettin' Off Steam (1990)
- One Step Ahead (1993)
- Original Master (1994)
- The Journey (1996)
- Island Rock (1998)
- The Man Who Couldn't Say No (2001)
- Live It Up! (2004)
- A Little Way Different (2008)
- Fall From Grace (2012)
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [10] |
NOR [11] |
FIN [12] |
AUT [13] |
||||||||||||
| 1988 | "Let The Music Play / Funky Raggamuffin" | — | — | — | — | single only | |||||||||
| 1989 | "Microphone Poet" (with Rob'n'Raz) | — | — | — | — | Lettin' Off Steam | |||||||||
| 1990 | "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" | 16 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Lettin' Off Steam" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Beautiful Woman (Love Supreme)" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1991 | "Take It Easy" | — | — | — | — | One Step Ahead | |||||||||
| 1992 | "Ain't No Substitute" | 6 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1993 | "Runaround Girl" | 19 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Mr. Taxidriver" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1994 | "I'd Rather Be With You" | — | — | — | — | Original Master | |||||||||
| "Jungle Sound Clash" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1995 | "The First Cut Is The Deepest" | 5 | 9 | — | 20 | The Journey | |||||||||
| 1996 | "The Journey" | 9 | — | 20 | — | ||||||||||
| "The Tide Is High" | 44 | — | 20 | — | |||||||||||
| "Feeding You Lies" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1998 | "Island Rock" | 23 | — | — | — | Island Rock | |||||||||
| "Endless Road" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1999 | "The Big Showdown" | — | — | — | — | The Man Who Couldn't Say No | |||||||||
| 2001 | "I Spy" | 40 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Hottie Hottie Girls" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 2005 | "My No 1" (from Melodifestivalen) | 51 | — | — | — | single only | |||||||||
| "Murder In The Dancehall" | — | — | — | — | Live It Up! | ||||||||||
| 2008 | "Suzy Wong" | — | — | — | — | Papa Dee Meets The Jamaican Giants | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||||
Singles as featured artist
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | FIN | UK | US | ||||||||||||
| 1988 | "Summertime Is Partytime / Summertime" (by Jon Rekdal) | — | — | — | — | singles only | |||||||||
| "Competition Is None" (by Rob'n'Raz) | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1989 | "After The Rain (Ragamuffin Style)" (by Titiyo) | 13 | — | 60 | — | ||||||||||
| 1990 | "Big Bad World" (by Dayeene) | — | — | — | — | United Soul Power | |||||||||
| 1991 | "My Body Says Yes" (by Titiyo) | — | — | — | 42 | Titiyo | |||||||||
| "Come Back (For Real Love) (The Remix)" (by Alison Limerick) | — | — | 53 | — | singles only | ||||||||||
| 1992 | "Girls" (by Timebomb) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1993 | "Dangerous" (by Swing-A-Ling Sound System) | — | — | — | — | Swing-A-Ling Sound System Volume One | |||||||||
| 1996 | "Release The Pressure" (by Leftfield) | — | — | 13 | — | Leftism | |||||||||
| "Rude Boy" (by Leila K) | 29 | 8 | — | — | Manic Panic | ||||||||||
| 2000 | "Petite Très Chic" (by Elephant) | — | — | — | — | Selected Random | |||||||||
| 2003 | "Girls' Anthem (The Girlie Tune)" (by Beats and Styles) | — | 14 | — | — | This Is... Beats And Styles | |||||||||
| 2004 | "Allstars" (by Beats and Styles) | — | 2 | — | — | single only | |||||||||
| 2006 | "Fira Med Oss" (by Emrik Larsson) | — | — | — | — | Kontrollen | |||||||||
| 2007 | "Take It Back" (by Beats And Styles) | — | — | — | — | Walk, Don't Talk | |||||||||
| "Automatic (Morgan Page vs. Peace Bisquit Radio Mix)" (by Ultra Naté) | — | — | — | — | single only | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||||
Other appearances
- Debut studio album - The Bitter Twins (TBA)
See also
References
- ↑ soundism.com
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