Eddie Otchere

Eddie Otchere

With a career spanning over twenty years, it’s a wonder why this UK vocalist and composer’s inimitable talent has not yet received recognition in the form of Grammy’s. Omar’s work is stellar.

Coming from a musical family, being a classically trained musician who attended music school in Manchester, it is no surprise that Omar’s journey started early. Releasing his first two singles “Postman” and “You and Me,” featuring Caron Wheeler (Soul II Soul) on backing vocals, Omar landed a deal for his debut album, There’s Nothing Like This on the now defunct Gilles Peterson label Talkin’ Loud in 1990. It can safely be said, there has been nothing quite like Omar since.

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Omar’s music is a fusion of funk, soul, Latin, reggae, and jazz mixed with a backdrop of orchestral arrangements. What distinguishes him from his counterparts is the unique tonality to his voice where his musical leanings compliment his sound evermore. Growing up in Canterbury, Kent, a southeastern town in England and being of Caribbean descent with roots to Cuba, exposed him to many different sounds, where he could later move on create his own style.

After the release of There’s Nothing Like This, music legend Stevie Wonder proclaimed he would write music for Omar. The two have been united musically several times over the years and finally recorded the song “Feeling You” together, which appears on Omar’s sixth album Sing (If You Want It) (2006), on Blunt Music. The album also featured Angie Stone, Estelle, Rodney P, and many others. The album was re-released last year on Tru Thoughts.

Omar's collaborations include only the crème de la crème in the business. Most artists dream of working with their musical idols or people they most admire, while for Omar those requests came directly to him. On his fifth album Best By Far, Erykah Badu sang duet with him covering William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful.” He has performed duets with the late Motown singer, Syreeta Wright, and Angie Stone; was also the main vocalist on rapper Common’s “Heaven Everywhere” from his Electric Circus album; was featured on Mark de Clive-Lowe's album Renegades on the song, “Get Started,” where Sheila E. play percussion; he has had Marvin Gaye’s former arranger Leon Ware, Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier, David Frank (The System), and Derrick Bramble (Heatwave) all play on his albums in some way. We can only expect to hear more outstanding music from Omar.

Now with his seventh album, The Man soon to be released, Omar had remade his debut hit single, “There’s Nothing Like This” to commemorate its twenty-first anniversary. His choices in production are varied this album, featuring UK electronic producer Zed Bias, of whom he released a summer track last year, “Dancing” (featured below), King P, Dru & Perez, and Live Tropical Fish.

The Loop 21 got to talk to Omar about his career to date, the business, and his gratitude, and being able to travel the world doing what he loves.

Loop 21: Do you think your influences in music has a lot to do with your make up, where your family is from, and where you were raised?

Omar: No. My grandmother was Cuban, born in Havana, Cuba. I’ve always had the Latin thing. So it kind of started with that. My dad was a reggae drummer as well. Everything else kind of fell into place, and with me being classically trained, I’ve just always had a certain affinity with certain types of music, and I’ve basically just put everything together all into one.