UK soul legend Omar is a genre unto himself (even in nation that comes up with new genres every night while you sleep, basically). He’s been a game creator, 40 years strong—earning himself some royal recognition as an MBE. To my American (African-American) ears and eyes, he’s always been just ahead of D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell in carving out neo-soul ideas.
For a large period, if you were a DJ in The Bay—playing any First Friday function, IYKYK—you’d better have had some Omar in that record bag. Or else.
Maybe he didn’t have the so-called big charting albums, but for decades, he’s stayed in our ears. The mighty Stevie Wonder wrote a song for him, a banger at that, which speaks to how well he’s regarded by the masters. The late great J Dilla made a beat for him; Omar’s brother, producer Scratch Professor, recently rediscovered it and Omar says he hopes to use it in a future project. Those two giants of Black music culture, Wonder and Dilla, both heard that thing in Omar’s voice.
Within four bars, you know exactly who is singing. Range within and soul throughout. Even when Craig David hit the charts in the 2000s, and music listeners and critics inadvertently said, “We only have room for one, sorry,” Omar took it in stride and once again charted his own path. Never bothered, the 56-year-old music veteran, instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and singer also know as Omar Lyefook does it all his own way.
Oh, I forgot to mention—when he puts together an album, such as 2025’s Brighter The Days, his 9th studio album, it can run all sorts of places without losing that Omar magic. He hits the broken beat sweet spot, merging funk, jazz, samba, hip-hop, salsa plus a little Afrocentric shuffle. Again, a game creator. Breaking trends.
So we reached out to the groundbreaking artist to ask him what tracks he can’t live without, and we should have known, he’s a proper crate digger. The Level 42 track is mental! Thanks to Omar for taking the time.
Pick up his Brighter The Days album here.
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STEVIE WONDER, THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS
“I have had this album since I was seven or eight years old. It shaped the way I look at harmonies, arrangements, production, and instrumentation, and had an everlasting effect on me.”
LEVEL 42, THE EARLY TAPES
‘My cousin and fellow musician Brian Henry put me on to Level 42 when I was about 12. The first time I heard [singer and bassist] Mark King play, I was hooked, and wanted to play just like him.‘
JEFF LORBER FUSION, WIZARD ISLAND
“Another album my cousin put me onto, I would practice the drums to songs like ‘Fusion Juice’ (and the title track of that album, ‘Wizard Island’).“
JOHN HOLT, 1000 VOLTS OF HOLT
“The very cool vocals of Mr Holt kinda remind me of my own. This album was a mainstay in all Black households in the ’70s.“
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA
“They were at the forefront of electro, I loved this album [Yellow Magic Orchestra] for the ‘future’ sounds it had, much like Kraftwerk.”
