2024, August 2024, Respect
Queen Omega
Aug
Queen Omega began singing at local talent shows at the age of 9, writing her own calypsos and rapping on national television. Later, she started singing backing vocals for local producer Kenny Philips, accompanying many top Soca acts, both in the studio and on stage.
Raised in a musical family, she grew up listening to Soul music from artists like Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, and Whitney Houston. She also listened to Jazz, Calypso’s traditional music from Trinidad, and Reggae and Dancehall, her favorites. She was later drawn to Rastafari and started writing lyrics with roots and reality themes.
On a trip to Jamaica with the Solomon Band in 2000 to perform at the Caribbean Music Expo, she met producer Mickey D, who brought her to London for recording sessions. A year later, she released her debut set, “Queen Omega,” quickly followed by several hit singles and a second album, “Pure Love.”
In early 2004, she released a third album, “Away From Babylon,” with JetStar Music, finding herself still residing within Mickey D’s Green House family. Along with many well-received Live performances, Queen Omega started blazing a trail for female reggae artists and continued to do so with her brand-new collection of tunes. Under the wings of the very talented French production Bost & Bim and the label Special Delivery Music, she showed that she had improved her vocal delivery much further.
“This ‘Lioness’ is one of the leading female roots artists of our generation.” – Gav Pauze
Queen Omega mixes her standard singing with deejaying, finding herself quite efficient at both. Besides that, she once again fully showcases her devastating ability to write straight-to-the-point messages.
Queen Omega creates a sort of consistency the roots side of reggae has never known before from a female artist, with outstanding tracks such as “Selassie I Know,” “Love Each Other,” “Me Beg Yu,” “Keep The Faith,” “No Retire,” “Destiny” or her combination with Buju Banton titled “Perfect Combination.” Her distinctive voice, conscious lyrics, and some really good riddims – fresh originals and do-overs – make her CD worthwhile adding to your collection.
In 2008, Queenie – as she is fondly called – performed at many reggae festivals in North America, headlining the Northwest World Music Festival in Oregon. In 2009, she toured Brazil and France at the Garance Reggae Festival with Don Carlos & Barrington Levy.
In 2010, the talented Empress recorded with Jah Sun on his Gravity EP and toured with Marcia Griffiths. In 2011, we saw her performing on tour in Portugal, Sweden, France, and the French West Indies. With the release of a new LP produced by High Fly Music, 2012 was a major year for Queen Omega as she toured France, Germany, and La Réunion and received the much-deserved Merlin Lynn Taitt Award for Music.
Since then, Queen Omega has continued touring the Caribbean and Europe and performing at many of the largest Reggae festival scenes, such as the Reggae Rising (USA), SNWMF (USA), JaSound (France), African Music Festival (Germany), and Sao Paulo (Brazil).
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WEBSITE:
Pauzeradio.com/Queen-Omega
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