OMI Biography

news-detailsFrom the rural Jamaican parish of Clarendon, OMI (born Omar Samuel Pasley) has made his name known in the U.S. and several European countries through his music. The singer/songwriter, who was born September 3, 1986, says he got art and music imprinted on him by his father who passed away when he was 9. "My father did both. He passed away when I was 9, but imprinted on me the lessons and tools for a lifetime," he shares. "I think it was genetically encrypted. I started writing music when I was 14, always interested in words. The poetry side of the music artist fascinated me."

People began to notice his talent by the time he entered high school, during which he and his friends would rap and dance on top of desks in between classes. Encouraged by those around him, he entered studio because he wanted to "see what I sounded like on a record."

He then gained interest in crafting his own lyrics and a wide range of artists from Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G. and Eminem to John Legend and even Nat King Cole were among those who influenced his music. Not forgetting his roots, he's also fascinated by Jamaican music and how it touched a lot of different genres. In around 2007/2008, he entered an underground studio to record material he wrote. "I became an explorer, going deeper into the idea of music as pure expression," so he claims.

In 2009, he met Clifton 'Specialist' Dillon who set up OMI with his own studio in Kingston, where he could pour out his creativity. Calling the period "another great learning process where I fell even more in love with music," he reveals that's when he decided that being a musician would be "a fulltime career."

He came up with his now breakthrough song "Cheerleader" in around 2008 and it "started out as just two verses and a chorus." He recalls the creative process behind the song creation, "It was about seven years ago; I was in a taxi developing my catalogue at an underground studio and I was heading to that studio. I had the melody in my head early that morning and it was so catchy, you know? I used to love writing from a metaphoric standpoint - that was like my thing - that's how I came up with the metaphor 'Cheerleader,' you know, that support system."

When Dillon first heard it, he immediately knew that it "was going to be the 'one.' The hit," OMI recalls. They later added "a third verse to it, worked on the beat, and sent it out into the world."

The ska single was released in 2012 and it took off in Hawaii as OMI noticed the song's "stickiness" where ever he performed it live. "People just gravitated to it, always remarking how it was their favorite," he says. But it's not until 2014 when the song became a worldwide commercial success, thanks in large part to German DJ/Producer Felix Jaehn who remixed it by deftly imbuing acoustic gestures into the mix. "I loved the mix even before it took off. So calm; And unusual for a remix, it made you want to listen to the words, too," he gushes over the remix version.

With the infectious beat, "Cheerleader" soon topped the charts in several countries, including Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom and entered the Top 10 in nearly 30 other markets. In the U.K., OMI set a record on May 24, 2015 when the dance song topped the U.K. Singles Chart for the fourth week in a row, marking the longest consecutive period any Jamaican artist has held that position on the chart. In the United States, the song debuted at number 95 on Billboard Hot 100 in May 2015, but it ascended to the top rank after 12 weeks. It has also been streamed more than 90 million times on Spotify.

Currently signed to Ultra Music, a part of Sony Music, OMI is now juggling tours in Europe and promotional work in the U.S. while making new music in hopes of launching an album. He has performed his hit "Cheerleader" on ABC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon".