The name Omarion is well known in R&B music circles. His full name is Omarion Ishmael Grandberry. American singer, songwriter and performer of popular songs. Also known as one of the main members of the B2K group.
The beginning of the musical career of Omarion Ishmael Grandberry
The future musician was born in Los Angeles (California) in a large family. Omarion has six brothers and sisters, and he himself is the eldest among them. The boy studied well at school, played football well, and was even the captain of his team.
Closer to the senior classes, the young man developed a penchant for music. He began to compose the first songs, to master some musical instruments. It is noteworthy that Omarion's younger brother O'Ryan also chose a musical direction and became a singer.
By 2000, the young man realized that music is the most important thing in his life. He would like to connect his fate with her. The musician met several guys who also just started to try their hand at music. This is how the B2K team was born.
Despite the short existence (only three years), the guys managed to leave an important mark on music. In 2001 they started working. The musicians closed in the studio, tried to combine rap, R&B and experimented with modern sound. The result was three albums at once, which were released in 2002.
Two releases went unnoticed, but the third album hit the reputable Billboard chart and sold well. This album received a gold sales certificate (more than 500 thousand copies sold).
From 2002 to 2003 musicians released new songs, but they were not very popular. As a result, in 2004 the group finally broke up, and Omarion left, dreaming of a solo career.
He was already an accomplished musician with three full length releases under his belt. It was a great base for starting a solo career.
Solo work of Omarion
Omarion recorded solo demos from 2003 to 2005. (after leaving the B2K group). I wrote the first songs and tried my best to show them to the major labels. For some time he was pursued by failure - the labels did not show interest in working together.
However, in 2004 the situation changed. The musician was noticed by Epic Records, which liked experiments and work with different artists. Through Epic Records, Omarion got to the world-class label Sony Music, many resources, companies.
The first song and in the top ten!
In 2004, the musician's first solo single was released with a very simple but original title "O". The single was warmly received by both the public and critics. It reached the top 30 of the Billboard Top 100. This was a very important result for the first single, which was released towards the end of the year.
Therefore, in early 2005, it was decided to immediately release the second song. The single Touch was less successful. It failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and received infrequent radio play.
The third single became more successful. The song I'm Tryna conquered many charts and was highly appreciated by the audience. Now it was time to release the first album.
Debut work of Omarion
The album was called "O" (the same name with the first single in the musician's career). The collection was released in 2005 and sold very well. Within a few weeks, the release won a "platinum" sales certificate (more than 1 million copies sold). This result made the musician truly popular in the R&B genre.
Omarion's second album and produced by Timbaland
Inspired Omarion went on tour and gave a number of successful concerts in US cities. Now it was time to start recording the second release. At the age of 21, the musician recorded the album "21", one of the producers of which was Timbaland.
The first single was released at the end of 2005 and was called Entourage. He got on the radio, was in rotation for several weeks. This was followed by a single produced by Timbaland.
The song Ice Box made it to the top 20 of the best songs of the year according to the Billboard Hot 100. It became one of the most downloaded ringtones on the phone in 2005 and 2006.
The singer boldly released the album "21" in 2006. He expected significant sales, but the album sold only 300 copies. Despite the sharp decline in sales, the release cannot be called unnoticed. Thanks to the Ice Box single and songs, he became recognizable, and the author received a new wave of popularity.
Omarion's cooperation with music stars
A year later (at the end of 2007), Omarion released a joint release Face Off with rapper Bow Wow. Despite a sharp decline in album sales, the compilation sold 500 copies.
From that moment on, Omarion actively began to tour with such rap and pop stars as Bow Wow, Ciara, Ne-Yo, Usher, etc.
In early 2010, the third release of Ollusion was released, and in 2014, the fourth Sex Playlist. The albums showed sales tenfold, but were warmly received by the "fans".
