Review: OMI – Me 4 U
Artist: OMI
Album: Me 4 U
Rating: 9/10
When it comes to modern pop, let’s face it, listeners get bored after awhile. However, I’ve found a certain international pop star who is continuously impressing me with his ridiculously catchy beats. This Kingston, Jamaica artist, Omar Samuel Pasley, aka OMI, made a name for himself with the release of Felix Jaehn’s remix of his track “Cheerleader” and it’s been nowhere but up since then. His debut album Me 4 U is a mix of modern pop sensibility, a heavy splash of reggae and all of the beauty of the best of today’s R&B. Every single track is clearly very personal to him and he put his all into them. I will be the first to admit that when I first heard “Cheerleader,” I was turned off because I’m not a fan of a lot of auto-tune. Admittedly, since that point.. it’s grown on me and I don’t think my wife and I have spent a single day where we haven’t listened to it at least once. It just goes to show that your opinion of an artist/song can change if you give it enough of a chance.
“Standing On All Three’s” is the track that I want to start off talking about. This album has a reggaeton type of sound to, features almost non-stop quick delivery on vocals and, the most unlikely part, a guitar solo! Fluidly and expertly lacing each word together in this track is something that seems like it would be near impossible for few other artists. However, OMI does it with grace and style. This track is, admittedly, very sexual in nature…clear from the beginning. It’s about the sexual chemistry he feels with his special lady… I’ll let you dissect the lyrics on your own. Even for as dirty in nature as this song is, it’s incredibly catchy and you’ll be singing it in no time.
Have you ever been shy to talk to someone you have an attraction towards? Have you thought about nothing more than how you’d like to be solely theirs? Well, “Color Of My Lips,” which features fellow Kingston native, Glendale “Busy Signal” Gordon is the track that will appeal to those nostalgic feelings (if you’re in the older crowd) or will help you tackle that fear (if you’re in the younger crowd.) With a really 50s/60s esque pop vibe to it, this track is sure to dominate the airwaves as a single, at some point.
“Promised Land” is one of the most hope-filled tracks on the album. It’s a track about escaping reality, striving for your dreams and not stopping til you get there. It’s about setting massive goals for yourself and reaching them all, no matter the cost. It’s about reaching your ultimate paradise… your “Promised Land.” America is known worldwide as the promised land… but this is about finding your personal promised land. What do you want to do? What’s stopping you from doing it? Get out there and make it happen! No one reaches their dreams by sitting around!
OMI is not shy about singing about his feelings, especially those of love and that fact truly shines through with each track on the album. After all, with a title like Me 4 U, you’d be hard-pressed to find any meaning within that title besides feelings of love. Through the title track “Me 4 U,” which features an unnamed female voice (presumably his love interest?), his hit “Cheerleader” and tracks like “Hitch Hiker” and “Midnight Serenade” he sings about how much this woman means to him, how he vows to stay true to her and how no other girl will ever do. The album, as a whole, has the ability to reach the top of the charts, get into the heart of it’s listeners and create club anthems that will stand the test of time, much like a lot of the 90s pop hits we still hear today. If you’re a fan of pop, in any sense or even if you’re NOT, you need to do yourself a favor and check out OMI’s incredible debut, Me 4 U because it surprised even me. I never would have thought I’d find myself enjoying a modern pop album the way I do with this one. Pick it up, out on Ultra Music, on October 16th! It’s the perfect end of Summer album and it’s sure to stay in your playlist for a long time!
Pre-Order Me 4 U
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“Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)” (Official Music Video)
