Lamar Thomas (born October 1975 in Pittsburgh, United States), known professionally as Lamar or The Phat Mack, is an American rapper who was active in the European Euro rap scene during the late 1990s. He grew up in Pittsburgh, the son of a pastor and a pastor’s wife, and performed there as a soloist while also briefly rapping with the group The Obvious. In 1995, he moved to Mannheim, Germany, where he performed in local clubs and won the 1997 HipHop Masters Germany competition. His debut single, Too Many Nights, produced by Da Flava Squad, was released in 1998 and reached number 50 on the German charts. The follow-up single, Shine (David’s Song), sampled a 1978 composition by Vladimir Cosma, known as the theme music for the ZDF miniseries Die Abenteuer des David Balfour and previously a 1980 hit for the Kelly Family. Lamar’s version, featuring vocals from Jemini, reached number 12 in Germany, number 15 in Switzerland, and number 30 in Austria in early 1999. Lamar’s next single, Fly (The Lonely Shepherd), was based on James Last’s composition Einsamer Hirte, originally created for the television series Das Gold der Wüste (Golden Soak) and made famous by panflutist Gheorghe Zamfir in 1977. The 1999 version charted at number 27 in Germany and number 31 in Switzerland. Subsequent releases did not achieve further chart success. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.