Rupee Biography
Rupee, born Rupert Clarke, is the multi-ethnic son of a Barbadian father and a German mother. By the age of nine, he had lived in three completely different cultures–German, English, and Barbadian.
Rupee's first success came as a teenager, when he won a popular Barbados talent competition. His performance stole the show and fueled his desire to be an artist. The public's response to Rupee was tremendous, and in 1997 he was invited to join the top Barbadian band, Coalishun.
The following year, Rupee hit it big with Ice Cream, which blew up the Caribbean charts and put him in the spotlight. He had found his musical comfort zone and started composing in earnest. Ice Cream was followed by a string of smashes from three self-released solo albums. The scorching up-tempo song "Jump," from his first album, won Rupee repeated Road March titles at carnivals in Barbados, New York, Miami, Boston, and Toronto. "Tempted to Touch," from his second album, enjoyed over two years of international club play, spreading to urban and pop radio in Toronto and Miami. It became the catalyst for Rupee's worldwide deal with Atlantic–as well as the first single from 1 ON 1.
This album celebrates both Rupee's sense of his multi-national heritage and his brimming, forward-looking confidence in his original music. He generously and enthusiastically credits Caribbean-based producers like Chris Allman (Slam City Studios), Peter Coppin (Monsta Piece Studios), and Darron Grant (Underground Studios), as well as his recent work with New York-based hip-hop fusion hitmaker Salaam Remi (Fugees, Hot Stepper, Miss Dynamite, Nas) for their important contributions to his musical growth and the progressive direction of the album.
Before deciding to pursue music full-time, Rupee explored other aspects of his creative nature. Rupee has kept all of his creative sides busy by playing an active role in the design of his web site www.thisisrupee.com and the visual marketing of his self-released projects.
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