You can't ignore Andru Donalds: The Jamaican is 6.5 ft tall, trim and athletic. Most obvious characteristics are his long dreads which almost belong to every man of this Caribbean island. But that's it, cliché- wise, because in contrast to most of his countrymen, he is not only about Reggae and Rastafari mythology. This again is easily explained by the experiences of his childhood and youth: "My father was a professor of theology and psychology. The campus used to be my playground. We did a lot of travelling, too. My father worked at the Princeton- University (New Jersey), in Atlanta, London and in New York City". Andru Donalds has seen a lot of the world, his musical development was molded by many different influences. Also in this respect, his father gave lasting impulses. "As a child, I was taught classical music and I sang in a boy's choir. My father also gave me a lot of records, among them some of the Beatles. The Beatles were my first excursion into the realm of Rock and Pop music." While his father wanted his son to aim at an academically career, this didn't seem to be very tempting for Andru Donalds. . "I didn't feel like it at all, school was boring to me. In our family, I've always been a rebel and was fighting the conventions". Instead of fulfilling his parents' expectations, Andru Donalds loved the risk. Right after graduating from school, he traveled to England, lived in the Netherlands and France, and developed his musical qualities as a singer and songwriter. Finally, renowned producer Eric Foster-White (Whitney Houston, Hi Five, Britney Spears) offered him a contract. As a result, the extremely successful debut album "Andru Donalds" was released in 1995. The wonderfully relaxed hit-single "Michale" even reached number 4 in the US - charts. And in Europe and the Far East, "Michale" also became a long- running hit and sold millions of copies. His idea of varied and atmospheric "universal world pop", like Donalds describes his music, turned out to be right and successful. For his second album "Damned If I Don't", the Jamaican slowed down a bit, though. "I wanted to show my personal development, not only to come up with a repetition of 'Michale'. It's like with movies. The second rehash never reaches the quality of the original." In April 1998, shortly after the release of "Damned If I Don't", Andru Donalds got a phone call from the producer Michael Cretu (Enigma). "When he was on vacation in Greece, he heard 'Michale' on the radio and told me that he has never experienced someone singing like me. That's why he wanted to take me on his 'Enigma' project", Andru Donalds remembers. "At first, I was a little surprised. But then I asked myself: 'Why not?' Finally one thing lead to another". Both met and realized that they'd get along very well. They postponed the work on the 'Enigma' project, Michael Cretu suggested to produce a whole album for the Jamaican instead. Andru Donalds sings the praises of the collaboration with Cretu. "I've learned so much from him. Michaels musical spectrum is really phenomenal. I got to know music from Pakistan, Marocco, India, and many other countries. This broadened my mind a lot. Michael promoted me and so I explored new possibilities to use my voice". The album: "Snowin' Under My Skin" The recording of Andru Donalds third album took place in Cretu's State - Of - The - Art- Studio in Ibiza, Spain. "Our work was very concentrated. Michael isn't only a brilliant producer, he also has an unbelievable intuition. Although both of us had an extremely different background, something magic immediately arose. It had always been my demand to develop myself in this project. And everyone who listens to this album knows that I did". For the first single, they picked "All Out Of Love". "It's a wonderful popsong I've always loved", Andru Donalds explains this decision. "I think that we gave a really spiritual dimension to this song, especially with the help of Michaels wonderful arrangement. I'm really proud of it." The atmospheric video for "All Out Of Love" was shot in the South of Spain. By releasing his third album, not only a new chapter of Andru Donalds' career has just begun, but the Jamaican also climbed a new level of his artistically development.
