Customer Reviews

Sing (If You Want It)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dedicated,long time fans of Omar will enjoy this cd and hopefully new listeners will get hooked on Omar. Omar continues to be a refreshing artist in this plethora of same old sounding vocalists. The most uplifting track on this cd is, "Feeling You," Omar's most complimentary collaboration yet, with none other than the legendary Stevie Wonder. You can almost hear this tune on "Songs in the Key of Life." It is classic Stevie, in the vein of his 70's work. A feel good tune that gives you hope about love and life. I would love to hear a longer version of this...an instrumental jam, and of course more vocal exchange between Stevie and Omar. Other guest appearances include Angie Stone, Common, JC Bentley, and Estelle, to name just a few. Omar is at his best when he slows the pace and blends soul, jazz, and a touch of latin, creating a loungy-bossa nova, almost bluesy vibe. Tracks such as "Get It Together" and "Lay It Down" evoke this feeling. "Ghana Emotion" is another captivating song filled with beautiful imagery...and Omar's vocals take you there with ease.

How do you review an artist as renowned as Omar? I think with the following disclaimer. There's not a song on this album that I don't like. Well, I'm not all that hyped about two of the four MCs on "Gimme Sum", but other than that I love Sing.

The record is simpler than I remember Omar's music. Very often it's almost stripped-down to its most basic essentials. Songs like "Sing", "Kiss It Right", and "I Want It" show a sensibility that relishes in leaving space in the track. Nothing is jumbled, nothing is forced. Moving in its simplicity, much of the album is brilliant musical minimalism.

Created and recorded mostly in Omar's home studio, Sing very much has a solitary feel. It's an emotional record that tugs you along with it. "Get It Together" is the perfect internal dialogue of a man chasing an unresponsive woman. Omar telling himself to get it together over a lonely melody featuring a plaintive Spanish guitar is devastating. It captures the emotions of the situation and puts you in that mood whether you're currently chasing anyone or not.

The only slow spot on the album is after Common finishes his verse on "Gimme Sum." The production is real dope and the song is crazy through two MCs. But after that, the last two can't manage the necessary quality.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Omar and Stevie Wonder. I'm not sure whether "Feeling You" is more like classic Omar or classic Stevie. Either way, it's pretty damn good. It has that big, epic soul sound that Stevie was so good at creating, but it's updated ever so slightly. Some things are just meant to be and this song is a fusion of styles that was made in heaven.

Sing is just an incredible record. Omar fans will love it. The uninitiated happening across it will love it. Now it's just a question of whether radio will play it so Omar can blow properly in the States after all these years. Maybe he should have had Lil' Jon remix something.

Tres bon album.
J'ai été attiré par le duo avec Stevie Wonder mais finalement l'ensemble de l'album s'écoute en boucle.

I've been an Omar fan since I heard "Painful Truths" on "The Best Of Acid Jazz" (circa 1997). I have every one of his albums I could find since, and I rank this one above "There's Nothing Like This" (my least favorite). That's not to disparage it, though. I give eight out of the fourteen tracks very high marks, and "It's So," "Gimme Sum," "Stylin'," "Lay It Down," "Feelin' You," and "Ghana Emotion" are my favorites.

P.S. Estelle made her mark with me on "Lay It Down" way before she hooked up with Kanye West and John Legend. I'm proud to say I was a witness before she became "big."

This album is a 4.5 rounded up to 5. The offerings this time seem like Omar took a sampling of what was good about his previous albums and put them in this one. You can hear the trademark Omar Funk, heavy bass, heavy percussion, falsetto smooth ballads/duets, and instrumental orchestration in this album. Lyrically this album is all over the map too (good thing). He has the "finding a girl songs", "lost my girl trying to get back songs", the "leaving her alone songs", and socially conscious songs. As such, this album doesn't try to be in a certain groove, which is why I call it a musically eclectic malange. This album is part Hip-Hop, part R&B, part Bossa Nova/Jazz, and other forms. Although it probably was not intentionally made to apply to a wide audience, it actually does.

My favorites (as in get heavy rotation) in order are:

5. Get It Together - Jazzy Bossa Nova
14. Ghana Emotion - Dance Hall Bassline
8. It's So - Calypso Beat and bassline, percussions
4. Kiss It Right - Funk with a catchy hook
6. Your Mess - Funk with a catch hook
9. Gimme Sum - Hip-Hop suggestive mix with cameos from Common, etc.
10. Feeling You - R&B w/ Stevie Wonder cameo, simple lyrics.

The rest can be categorized via a genre:

Moog Mood Music
1. Lift Off - Nice instrumental mood music, typical Omar Moog effects

R&B Soul
2. Sing - Up beat falsetto
7. All For Me - Slow Funk
3. Be A Man
13. Stylin' - Up beat falsetto
11. Lay It Down - Anti Violence song
12. I Want It

All in all, there isn't a bad track on the album. A breath of fresh air for those looking for R&B alternatives and those looking to broaden their musical palatte.

This CD is a smoker! Omar is very focused and diverse. With the help of noted musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Common, Angie Stone, and others, Mr. Lyefook's groove resonates the neo-soul/r&b nerve at its best. This is one talent that the US needs to embrace with open arms. The whole CD is slammin'.. Most noted tunes are "Lift Off", "Sin", "Be a Man, "Your Mess", "All for Me", "Gimme Sum", "Lay it down", Stylin", "Ghana Emotion" and of course ""Feeling You". The CD is a must buy. Exclusively licensed from Blunt Music LTD

Omar definately has a message in his music aspiration, peace, love & inspiration. His music is very potent, with very funky grooves to complement. Sometimes so funky that you don't realize the positive messages within the song, Sing If You Want It" is a good example, but not the only. This is quite an enjoyable CD. Ghana song is so special.

Sing (If you want it) is an excellent album. Omar is an outstanding vocalist who has his own style that works well in today's cookie-cutter world of music. Omar's music is smooth, yet edgy. This is his best work yet. This says a lot since I have all of his albums. I will continue to be a fan of this multi-talanted artist.

This is my first CD of Omar's. I guess his music and style is an acquired taste, that I haven't quite savored yet. My favorite track was 2 the title cut "Sing (if you want to)". Track 1 "Lift Off" is a nice lead in song. No. 4 "Kiss it right" along with the Stevie Wonder joint were good. The song done with Common & Co. was alright, he showed versitility. The songs with Jill Scott didn't quite work for me, with No. 7 the better of the two. Track 12 "I Want It" rounds out the songs that I connected to. Will check out some of his earlier work to get a better feel.

One or two of the hip-hop flavored tracks on here kinda hamper the soul of this album, but there are vintage Omar songs on here that more than make up for it. Check out the tracks Your Mess, Get It Together, Feeling You(Stevie's on it!), and my absolute and maybe all-time Omar favorite, Ghana Emotion, a gem that MURDERS just about every song that I have heard this year. This is definitely worth buying and make sure you grab prior works for the total Omar experience.