Artist: Omar
Genre(s):
New Age
Discography:
Secret Journey
Year: 2007
Tracks: 12
Opal Fire
Year: 2002
Tracks: 12
Designated by many as the father of British neo-soul (though his impact extends over to U.S. shores as intimately), Omar began as one of the U.K.'s well-nigh promising R&B hopefuls with his early-'90s outside attain "There's Nothing Like This." However, accidentally avoiding pop stardom, he chose ne'er to compromise his artistic credibleness; and because of that, people like India.Arie, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Gilles Peterson, and his biggest beau ideal, Stevie Wonder, make all endorsed him as personal fans (with the prior three naming him as an influence). Although he gets thrown and twisted into the R&B category, Omar has no real classical boundaries. In interesting unexampled shipway with each album, he has molded mortal and urban music to fit his spacious variety of influences, including ragga, hip-hop, funk, jazz-pop, rock, and Latin/Caribbean dance. Despite the want of chart succeeder, his original techniques accept garnered him a warm host of following in the U.K. and a devoted fan base in diverse regions across the earthly concern.Born October 14, 1968, in London only raised in Canterbury, Omar Lye-Fook couldn't escape cock the call to medicine even he tested. His father, Byron Lye-Fook, was a studio player and drummer wHO had done work for reggae greats Bob Marley and Horace Andy as intimately as the Rolling Stones. At age five, Omar was already acquisition how to playact the drums. During his grade school years, he realised formal preparation in piano, trumpet/coronet, and former percussion instruments, just he also taught himself to diddle the basso, emulating Level 42 guitar player Mark King. As a share of various boldness, malarkey, and percussion section ensembles, the brigham Young prodigy had performed in Italy, Brazil, and the U.S. before turning 15 years old. By the time he was a educatee at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music in London, he was likewise tempted in pursuing a professional calling and left later one year. Recording for his father's Kongo mark, Omar debuted in 1985 with the single "Mr. Postman" at age 16. With Kongo following up with a series of buzz-worthy white labels end-to-end the late '80s, Omar's favourable reception continued to grow because of his classic yet updated mortal approach, which was age before neo-soul became an acknowledged subgenre."There's Nothing Like This" number one stony-broke kO'd in 1990. It indisposed in the U.K.'s Top 20 the following year and remained on top of the R&B and dance charts for several weeks. This was at a time when acid idle words and house were the dominant urban forms in Britain. The soulful ballad got Omar signed to pioneering magnetic disk screw Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud embossment. He recorded the albums There's Nothing Like This (1990), which was compiled from his before Kongo recordings, and Music (1992), a more mature excursion, both in terms as a musician and a isaac Merrit Singer. (On some of these sooner recordings, he is credited as Omar Hammer, etymologizing from his stepfather's last key.) For his following two albums, For Pleasure (1994) and This Is Not a Love Song (1997), he affected on to major label RCA. The previous had him in the studio with ex-Motown songwriters and producers Leon Ware and Lamont Dozier, wHO were both fans of his medicine. But on the latter album, RCA keyboardist/producer David Frank (Chaka Khan, Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera) took the reins of the album's direction.Omar never received the type of promotion that he expected when joining RCA's roster, and so he parted ways with the judge, finding himself on the French-based Naïve Records. Stating influences of soundtrack compositions and Latin nothingness, he had much more personal space to work with on the 2000 endeavour Best by Far, indulging in his key signature chain and horn arrangements. However, a long period of inaction ensued following the 2000 recording, although he did appear on U.S. rapper Common's Electrical Circus LP in 2004. Over that time, Omar constructed his possess studio and naturalized the record tag Blunt Music. At this period in his career, he felt more independent than e'er earlier, and with extreme satisfaction he released his one-sixth studio album, Let the cat out of the bag (If You Want It), in 2006. Both U.S. (Common, Angie Stone) and U.K. artists (Rodney P, Estelle) paid court to Omar, recording guest vocals for the album, merely his crowning achievement was obtaining the Stevie Wonder duo "Flavor You," a vocal that Wonder seemingly promised him 15 days before. Omar's comrade, hip-hop/reggae producer Scratch Professor, besides contributed, offer more drum-kicking rhythms for the dancefloor. At the end of the year, the Urban Music Awards, which acknowledge urban medicine artists about the ball, at last gave Omar his long, delinquent praise, bestowing upon him the Best Neo-Soul Act and Outstanding Achievement Awards.
