By Yasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer—
OMI & Bob Sinclar—
When French record producer, house music DJ, and remixer Bob Sinclar teams up with OMI, the result is pure magic – a celebratory track driven by the flavourful mix of sounds and coupled with compelling lyrics that speak positivity.
Sinclar, the gyrating live wire who gets his high from musical outputs, kept his fans entertained throughout lockdown with his ‘55 days chronicles’, and, apparently, high on his to-do list was making some inspiring music.
Taking to social media, the exuberant Sinclar did a video step-by-step process of the making of the single, titled I’m On My Way, hooking up with OMI via cell phone in studio and having him sing his verses ‘live’. “I’m so proud of this new song with my talented Jamaican friend,” he told his followers. The journey also saw him linking with Pepe from Napoli, who did the mixing, engineering, and mastering. “This is fire!” Pepe shared.
An enthusiastic Sinclar told The Gleaner, “My new single, I’m On My Way, made in collaboration with OMI, is a powerful anthem. This 55 days of lockdown gave me a lot of inspiration to recreate a hymn to ‘federate’ people, all united with music.”
Released on Friday, within hours, it debuted at number five on French iTunes and also hit the charts in Italy. “Wow! Things are moving even faster than we had anticipated,” was OMI’s satisfied response when asked about the charts. The Cheerleader singer told The Gleaner that he was “pretty excited” about the project. “Bob Sinclar is a long-time friend of my manager, Clifton ‘Specialist’ Dillon, and he came to us with this idea. He already had the hook and an entire song, but he asked me to do some writing because he said he respected my writing skills,” OMI recalled.
He listened to the song for days, after which I’m On My Way was born, adhering to Sinclar’s instructions to “keep the hook”. For OMI, the single captures a mood and a vibe. “It’s the kind of energy that we need now. One person said it has a World Cup song feel, but I guess it is in keeping with the feel-good songs that I love to sing,” the entertainer said.
Sinclar has produced dozens of official remixes over his long career, including remixes of songs by artistes such as Jamiroquai, Moby, James Brown, Madonna, and Rihanna. This isn’t the first time that he is working with a Jamaican artiste, and he has great memories of those previous projects.
“Jamaica has a special place in my heart. My two biggest hits – Love Generation and World Hold On – were sung by Jamaican singers Gary Pine and Steve Edwards. When I met OMI on tour a few months ago, I knew that something was gonna happen. He has a special vibe, and he wrote amazing spiritual lyrics which sound like a prayer to the world. My Afro drums are the next summer feelings,” Sinclar, who admitted that he loves to dance, shared with The Gleaner.
Born Christophe Le Friant, he began deejaying in the 1980’s under the name Chris the French Kiss. During this time, he was more influenced by hip hop and jazz music and created music projects such as The Mighty Bop and Reminiscence Quartet, this one with an ensemble of musicians. Le Friant used the alias Desmond K in the Reminiscence Quartet and adopted the new name of Bob Sinclar in 1998 after the hero from the film Le Magnifique.
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