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There are precious few, if any contemporary UK artists whose creative credentials and influence extend as far and so consistently wide as Freestyle Records’ most recent signing Omar. Since first breaking through to worldwide renown all the way back in 1991 with his first releases on Gilles Peterson’s seminal Talking Loud label, and going on to work with all manner of musical legends including a certain Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Syreeta Wright, Common, and Carleen Anderson.

There cannot have been many times a bass clarinet b-line was destined to become one of the most memorable and catchiest moments in contemporary soul, but on the new single, The Man, that’s precisely what happens. Add to that a stunning vocal performance, the slinkiest of beautiful key changes, and an uplifting vibe that simply emanates class and omar-the-man-single-digi-coverstyle, and you will understand why those who were privileged to hear The Man early on, all without exception, flipped, slipped and fell totally in love with its soul, its groove and irrepressible spirit.

This release sees three reworkings of the title track; US mainstay of conscious hip hop and electronica, Shafiq Husayn, literally leaped at the chance to remix “The Man’ and gives it a minor mood feel, with spacey synthesiser lines added to emphasise this most memorable of melodies, Maddslinky (aka Zed Bias), came with a remix from a pumping, contemporary club direction including a driving beat coupled with spacy breakdowns and his trademark production skills, and Scratch Professer puts his unique stamp on his retwist of The Man like no one else could.

Listen to “The Man” single and download it here

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