Sivion

Last updated

Sivion
Birth nameGary James Watson
Also known asVision
Born (1972-05-11) May 11, 1972 (age 48)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Origin Dallas, Texas
Genres Christian hip hop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, author
Instrumentsvocals, singer-songwriter
Years active1990–present
LabelsIllect
Associated acts Deepspace5, Phat K.A.T.S.
Website illect.com

Gary James Watson (born May 11, 1972), who goes by the stage name Sivion, formerly Vision, is an American Christian hip hop musician and member of the hip hop supergroup collective Deepspace5. He was also a member of the duo Phat K.A.T.S., which he formed with his brother, who goes by the name Wushu. He has released four studio albums, Spring of the Songbird (2006), Mood Enhancement (2006), Butterfly Sessions with Dert (2010), and Group Therapy (2013), as well as additional live and remix albums and an EP.

Contents

Early life

Watson was born Gary James Watson, [1] on May 11, [2] 1972, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with his twin brother, Terry Edward Watson, who is also a Christian rapper, going by the name Wushu. He grew up splitting time in Dallas, Texas and Gaithersburg, Maryland, as his father's side of the family is from Maryland and his mother's side is from Texas. He went to University of Miami while his twin brother stayed closer to home attending University of North Texas. [3] [4]

Music career

Watson states that he started taking hip hop music seriously as a career in 1990. He formed the project Phat K.A.T.S. with his brother, himself going by the name Vision and his brother by the name Wushu. Watson eventually changed his name to Sivion, as he discovered that there were several other hip hop artists with the moniker "Vision". [5] Watson explains that he decided on the name Sivion after he misspelled his original stage name in an email to his brother. [6] Watson joined the Christian hip hop collective Deepspace5 during the recording session for The Night We Called It a Day. He started his solo music recording career in 2005, with the studio album Mood Enhancement, released through Illect Recordings. [7] [8] A second album, Spring Of The Songbird, released the following year (2006) through Braille's Hip Hop IS Music. [6] He partnered with Dert for the 2010 album Butterfly Sessions, [9] and a fourth studio album, Group Therapy , was released on October 15, 2013, from Illect Recordings. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] He is part of the hip hop duo, Phat K.A.T.S., with his twin brother, Terry.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Live albums

Remix albums

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References

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  2. Sivion (SivionDS5) (May 11, 2015). "Happy Birthday shout out to my Twin Brother, Terry aka Wushu from the Phat KATS. I found this old pic…". Twitter. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  3. Cummings, Tony (August 3, 2014). "Sivion: The Dallas-based emcee speaks about the changing face of Christian rap". Cross Rhythms . Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  4. Sketch the Journalist (October 16, 2013). "INTERVIEW: Dallas' Sivion talks "Group Therapy", deepspace5, and burger wars". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved February 1, 2016.
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