omar has a totally unique, individual style and sound still marks him out as a future thinking and utterly unrivaled artist, who has collaborated with so many legendary names that it would be foolish to deny his worldwide reputation - who would dare contradict the likes of stevie wonder, erykah badu, carleen anderson, angie stone, common and fellow fans and followers like maxwell and jarrod lawson?
following on from 2013’s album the man, 2016 sees his new long player further cement this undeniable reputation. love in beats is omars 8th studio album of his long, illustrious career and may just be the most eclectic & varied to date. somewhat more electronic in it’s conception and sound than it’s predecessor, love in beats incorporates soul, caribbean rhythms, an undercurrent of funk, with touches of zouk, a jazzy waltz, spoken word and also features collaborations with us soul legend leon ware, blue note pianist robert glasper, grime mc ty, guadeloupe born singer jean-michele rotin, and uk soultress natasha watts, the floacist and mayra andrade, the cape verdean born singer who lives and records in paris.
co produced by scratch professer, omars grammy winning brother, this collection should create excitement worldwide, the sounds are varied - but all have omars’ unique fingerprint on them, style and substance beautifully merged!

in 1979, emma dorgu decided it was time to act. he’d torn up the lagos live scene with the thermometers and conquered the airwaves with the single, ‘world people’. but there were injustices afoot, not just in nigeria, but in south africa and zimbabwe and across the continent as well, and he felt that something needed to be done. roverman was his politicized call to action. blackman akeeb kareem lent him the instruments and let him rehearse in his sitting room. dorgu sets his stall out early in the reggae-tinged ‘free my people’ calling for freedom for south africa, freedom for zimbabwe, indeed, freedom for all. thankfully political injustice hadn’t rid emma completely of his urge to get on down. the new york ghetto funk of ‘roverman’ and ‘loving’ and the straighthead boogie of ‘afro fever’ leaven the message with a funky beat and an irresistible pull towards the dancefloor. on roverman emma dorgu has achieved that that rarest of beats, an album that challenges your mind while it speaks to your feet. protest music has never sounded so funky.
(peter moore)