Jonathan Wilson, who performs as Robert De Negro[1], also credited in Grand Theft Auto 2 as Robbott De Negro[2], is a rap artist and voice actor.
Career[]
Jonathan Wilson[3] was born in Manchester, United Kingdom, to a Scottish father and a Caribbean mother. As a teenager, he grew up around Whalley Range, Moss Side, and Old Trafford, which is where he first developed his love of alternative rock, grunge, indie, hip hop, and jungle.
According to the game credits, he contributed vocals to three songs on the Grand Theft Auto soundtrack (Da Shootaz's "Grand Theft Auto", Slumpussy's "This Life", and CCC Featuring Robert DeNegro's "Blow Your Console", all on N-CT FM), two songs on the Grand Theft Auto 2 soundtrack (Negro Vs. Conner's "Showin' Me Love" and E=MC Good Times' "Jacking In Hilltown", all on KREZ), as well as one song on the Grand Theft Auto III soundtrack (Da Shootaz's "Grand Theft Auto", heard on Lips 106).
Wilson also voiced the Brotherhood of Jah Army of Love gang leader Brother Marcus in the final cutscene of Grand Theft Auto.[4]
His name is a play on the actor Robert De Niro and the term "negro" (meaning 'black' or 'dark' in Portuguese and Spanish, also a term referring to black people).
He also voiced a beatboxer in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
As a Character[]
De Negro's character is an ex-gangster turned rapper. He is briefly mentioned in a news segment on Lithium FM in Grand Theft Auto 2. He was secretly admitted to hospital amid claims that his skin couldn't cope with the amount of metal piercings he had adorned his body with. De Negro had denied claims he had a piercing problem.
GTA Works[]
- Grand Theft Auto - Radio Vocals/Police Dispatch; Brother Marcus (Voice) (1997)
- Grand Theft Auto 2 - Radio Vocals (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto III - Radio Vocals (2001)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Beatboxer (2002)
Further Reading[]
References[]
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ “YOU COMPOSED THE NOW CLASSIC RAP THEME SONG TO GTA1, GANGSTER FRIDAY AMONG MANY OTHERS. CREATIVELY, HOW DO YOU SUCCESSFULLY APPROACH SUCH A DIVERSE ARRAY OF GENRES? I’m not sure if we successfully pulled off all the genres, but we gave it a good go. We just listened to music that was current at the time and tried to tap into that. I don’t know if that turned out to be a homage or a parody to each genre- you decide. I teamed up with rapper Johnny Wilson to produce the hip hop tracks. I wont mention his credited name as its probably not very PC these days… but diehard fans will know who I mean! When I wrote Gangster Friday I was in the studio in Dundee rapping into my Dictaphone trying to be all “gangster”. I was a raver at the time with bleached hair and enlarged pupils so I wasn’t very gangster. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for me to write hip-hop beats as I’d never done it before, but thank fuck Johnny came into the studio at DMA. I quickly made up a vocal booth using some cheap duvets, chucked him in it and said “BRING IT” and he did. I laugh at the track when I hear it now. I much prefer the second hip hop track that we co-wrote This Life. The third hip hop track was pretty awful, it turned out like a ‘Snap – I’ve got the power’ rap, oh dear…”
- ↑ Confirmed by the game's music composer Colin Anderson during Grand Theft Auto's 25th Anniversary via YouTube
