Cosmo

by Andrew HamiltonCosmo Fraser is not your typical reggae singer/recording artist. From Westmoreland, a Jamaican Parish near Negril Beach, Cosmo's route to recording reggae came via a totally different route than most of the island's historic artists. It began like the careers of American soul artists: Stevie Wonder, Carl Carlton, Darrow Fletcher, Lucky Peterson, Gladys Knight, Michael Jackson, and other child prodigies, which Fraser most definitely was, but neither he nor his parents pursued or pushed him towards music. Though he won amateur contests all over the island as a child and had the goods of an exciting entertainer, he instead, at the age of 19, came to America to further his education.
He holds multiple bachelor degrees from Columbia University and a medical degree from the State University of New York -- not your typical reggae singer by any stretch of the imagination; and he's not just sitting on the med. degree, he's a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and Chief of Geriatric Nephrology at the VA Medical Center in the Bay Area, and makes all encompassing reggae music as well -- again, not your typical reggae singer.
The renown biomedical researcher, a.k.a. the Singing Doctor, has found the time to cut two albums to date: Reggae Music Man (a compilation done with fellow doctors) on Daktari Records (1995) and Fire This Time, his solo debut for Ruff Stuff Records (originally on Ginger Girl) released in 1998. Like any significant reggae singer, songs of social justice and injustice are a part of his repertoire, yet it's hard to picture Fraser leading a rebellion. He performs all over California and different venues and on reggae television specials; he travels to Canada to be part of their lauded Urban Fests and garners other choice gigs -- when you're not starving you can be picky. An enthusiastic entertainer, Fraser often jumps off the stage and boogies with the audience; his most popular opening number is a dancehall version of "Mission Impossible." In addition to singing, Fraser's an accomplished songwriter and writes most of his material.