Sadeke Brooks, Star Writer

Omari - Contributed

Omari's songHelp is perhaps one of the hottest and most inspirational gospel songs in the industry as it is currently receiving heavy rotation on both radio and television.

Omari, whose real name is Andrew Edwards, says the video has been on RETV, Music Plus, MTV-Tempo, BET-Jazz and Sky TV in the United Kingdom. The song was recently at the number two spot on CVM TV's Hitlist and has been played on radio stations like FAME FM and Love FM.

Omari says he is grateful for the strong support he has been receiving from the media for the song. He says the success the song has garnered was unexpected and, as a result, he has very little reason to complain.

"I am grateful more than I am ungrateful. My music is doing good on the radio but we still need more love from the media to get our voices out. Our music seems like secondary to other people's own," said Omari, although admitting that the market is opening up to gospel music.

Experience

He says the inspiration for Help came out of experience as he, too, went through severe depression. He says it came at a time when he stopped working as road manager for fellow gospel artiste, Prodigal Son, and became unemployed. He says he started wondering what he was going to do as most of his friends were working and he was not.

"I was depressed and felt like I was going to waste. There was personal pressure and family pressure. I was driving past Riverton City and saw the young boys searching the dump," he said.

He explained that he realised that he had no reason to be sorry for himself or be depressed as there were other persons who had life harder than he. He, then, asked the Lord for the words of a song in which he could state how he felt.

In the song, he says he is crying out for people going through rough times, as well as for himself. After penning the lyrics he went to Danny Browne, who created a rhythm that fit the song.

The song is accompanied by quite an intense video. It involves persons who are in need of help, as well as an appearance by Mavado who many see as a controversial artiste. Omari says he has received some criticism from people who believe Mavado should not have been in the video.

However, he says this is something that he is not apologetic about as he grew up in the Mannings Hill area and knows Mavado. Omari says they also attended Constant Spring All-Age School together before he attended Manchester High School in Mandeville.

The Mavado angle

Omari explained that he went to Cassava Piece to shoot sections of the video and Mavado was helpful in the process, as he assisted him with what he needed.

"He was next door and he ensured that whatever I needed for the video I got. He is one of the persons that the song is crying out for. Mavado is just another product of the inner city. He was there and he was crying with me as well," said Omari.

He added, "This song is not just for Christian people but everybody in society. I am not here to condemn Mavado. I just want reach out to him in love."

Omari says his purpose as a Christian minister is not to condemn, but to encourage other persons to follow a Christian path.

"He (Mavado) has a heart and it is not tough as stone, so it is not my duty to write him off. I was genuinely reaching out to him. This is not a publicity stunt," he said.

For Help, Omari has since received two MegaJamz awards for Best New Male Gospel Vocalist and Best Music Video for 2007. He was also been nominated for three Reggae Academy awards, in the categories, Best Solo Male Vocal Gospel Performance, Best Gospel Song and Best Gospel Music Video.

In the meantime, Omari is trying to promote his follow-up single Speak Life that was released recently. He is also working on his debut album which he plans to release in September.