Mad Lion

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Oswald Priest, known as Mad Lion, is a dancehall musician and rapper. He frequently collaborates with fellow hip hop artist KRS-One — most recently on a DVD promoting the Temple of Hiphop. Weaving a seamless blend of reggae and hip hop, Lion created one of the most influential sounds of the past two decades.^{[citation needed]} The recipient of the 1994 Source award as Reggae Artist of the Year, he has inspired similar-sounding recordings by such artists as Ini Kamoze, Capleton, and Rayvon.

A native of London, Mad Lion was raised in Jamaica. Shortly after moving to Brooklyn, New York, he met reggae performer Super Cat at Super Power Records. At Super Cat's suggestion, he adopted his professional name, an acronym for Musical Assassin Delivering Lyrical Intelligence Over Nations. Mad Lion's earliest success came in the mid-1980s when he applied his hip hop rhythms to Shabba Ranks' hit single "Jam". He later appeared, along with Queen Latifah, on Salt-N-Pepa's 1997 album Brand New (Salt-N-Pepa album).

Launching his own label, Spinners Choice, Mad Lion was working on his debut album when he met and convinced producer KRS-One to work with him. The collaboration proved fruitful as Lion's single, "Shoot to Kill", sold more than 100,000 copies. His next single "Take It Easy", did even better, exceeding the 300,000 sale mark.

After releasing the album Real Ting in 1993, Mad Lion made countless guest appearances on such albums as The New Jersey Drive and D&D Project, compilations, and produced a tune for Born Jamericans. His second album Ghetto Gold & Platinum Respect was released in 1997. Three years later, his third album Predatah or Prey, which also included an interactive game, arrived.

[edit] Internet presence

Mad Lion has a growing online presence. On September 21st, 2006, Google found 18,5000,000 results for the keyword "Mad Lion", Yahoo found 35,000,000 and MSN found 906,038. Mad Lion songs can be downloaded from hundreds of websites legally or illegally. Mad Lion ringtones can be heard on cell phones throughout the world.