Sivion

Sivion
Birth name	Gary James Watson
Also known as	Vision
Born	(1972-05-11) May 11, 1972 (age 52) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Origin	Dallas, Texas
Genres	Christian hip hop
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, author, rapper, poet
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Saxophone, Flute
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Illect
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.

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

• Mood Enhancement (May 24, 2005, Illect Recordings) ^[16]
• Spring of the Songbird (June 9, 2006, Hip Hop IS Music)
• Butterfly Sessions with Dert (September 7, 2010, Illect Recordings)
• Group Therapy (October 15, 2013, Illect Recordings)
• Dark Side of the Cocoon (October 6, 2017, Illect Recordings)

Extended plays

• Here We Go / Sivion for President (January 19, 2010, Illect Recordings)

Live albums

• Live at the Gypsy Tea Room (December 12, 2006, Illect Recordings)^[17]

Remix albums

• Everything Is Everything / Brand New Day (May 10, 2011, Illect Recordings)^[18]
• Older Now (Remixes) (December 6, 2011, Illect Recordings)
• Butterfly Sessions: Remixed (remixed by Freddie Bruno, February 12, 2013, Illect Recordings)

References

1. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. "COVER CHARGE Work ID No. 331782175 ISWC No. T0722479722 IPI No. 403452300 (WATSON GARY JAMES)". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved February 2, 2016. COVER CHARGE Work ID No. 331782175 ISWC No. T0722479722 IPI No. 403452300 (WATSON GARY JAMES)
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.
5. "aphire :: interviews :: sivion". www.lightonline.org. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
6. Shimooka, Tara (November 1, 2006). "Sivion: Vision Reconsidered". Hip-Hop News, Rumors, Rap Music & Videos |AllHipHop. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
7. Hayes, Steve (February 25, 2007). "Review: Mood Enhancement – Sivion". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
8. Juon, Steve "Flash". "Sivion :: Mood Enhancement :: Illect Recordings". Rap Reviews. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
9. "Butterfly Sessions by Sivion on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
10. Hoskins, Kevin (October 10, 2013). "Sivion, "Group Therapy" Review". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
11. Lacy, Dwayne (October 29, 2013). "The best wordsmiths and beatmakers participate in "Group Therapy"". New Release Today. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
12. Moss, James (May 27, 2014). "Review: Group Therapy – Sivion". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
13. Jones, Grant. "Sivion :: Group Therapy :: Illect Recordings". Rap Reviews. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
14. Gibbs, Lamar (October 14, 2013). "Sivion – Group Therapy". Jam the Hype. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
15. McKay, Aubrey (October 17, 2013). "Album Review: Sivion – Group Therapy". Wade-O Radio. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
16. "Mood Enhancement". Amazon.com. 2006.
17. "Live At The Gypsy Tea Room". iTunes. Apple Inc. December 12, 2006. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
18. "Everything Is Everything / Brand New Day remix". iTunes. Apple Inc. May 10, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2016.

External links

• Holy Hip Hop DataBase profile