{"id":69642,"date":"2026-07-31T14:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/31\/omarion-talks-new-album-showcasing-growth-in-sound-celebrating-20-years-of-sophomore-album-21-exclusive-interview-new-rb-music-songs-interviews\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:52:28","slug":"omarion-talks-new-album-showcasing-growth-in-sound-celebrating-20-years-of-sophomore-album-21-exclusive-interview-new-rb-music-songs-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/31\/omarion-talks-new-album-showcasing-growth-in-sound-celebrating-20-years-of-sophomore-album-21-exclusive-interview-new-rb-music-songs-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Omarion Talks New Album, Showcasing Growth In Sound, Celebrating 20 Years Of Sophomore Album &#8220;21&#8221; (Exclusive Interview) &#8211; New R&#038;B Music, Songs &#038; Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-89123\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/youknowigotsoul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/omarion-press-cropped-scaled-1.jpg?resize=600%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"omarion-press-cropped-scaled\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"\/><\/p>\n<p>YouKnowIGotSoul had a chance to interview <a href=\"https:\/\/youknowigotsoul.com\/omarion-releases-new-album-o2-part-1-stream\">Omarion<\/a> recently. The <a href=\"https:\/\/youknowigotsoul.com\/b2k-announces-first-new-single-in-over-two-decades\">B2K<\/a> singer has been very busy lately with the release of his new album \u201cO2\u201d as well as reuniting with his bandmates on the single \u201cMileage\u201d. We talked to O about his new project, his most recent releases and his commitment to staying true to R&amp;B. He also spent some time reflecting on his journey as a solo artist which includes the release of this sophomore album \u201c21\u201d. The critically acclaimed album just turned 20 years old this year and is regarded as one of the best albums from the 2000s era. Omarion gives an update on his highly anticipated \u201cPassport\u201d album that James Fauntleroy and him have been working on for years now.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Omarion Talks New Album, Showcasing Growth, Celebrating 20 Years of &quot;21&quot; (Exclusive Interview)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dXXGO-CpTCo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Omarion Talks New Album, Showcasing Growth, Celebrating 20 Years of &quot;21&quot; (Exclusive Interview)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dXXGO-CpTCo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: Omarion, I want to talk about the new album, \u201cO2\u201d. Before we talk about that, I have to give you a lot of props for what you\u2019ve been able to do with the \u201cFull Circle\u201d project as well as the \u201cO2\u201d project because I feel like this is some of your best work. It\u2019s age appropriate, your sound has evolved, but you\u2019ve still kept it true to your core audience. Talk about the creative mindset you\u2019re in right now because the music you\u2019ve been putting out has been rock solid.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: Being in this industry for more than 20 years can be auspicious and serendipitous. You can come back to moments, and you\u2019re constantly, as an artist, rediscovering yourself or reintroducing yourself. To grow is a special thing, especially coming from my era and my time. The cool thing about being involved in music and R&amp;B is that you literally create your own ceiling. You can always pour more into yourself. You can pick up an instrument. You can get behind the scenes. There\u2019s always so much to do. I would accredit my experience and my growth to still being in the gym, shooting around, trying different things, expanding my sound, working with new producers, and always making sure there\u2019s messaging within the scope of the music. I would really accredit that to having a zeal for something new, a new moment. That\u2019s what I\u2019m here to create. With \u201cO2\u201d, it\u2019s a very special thing that I\u2019ve been able to carry as an artist, which very few artists get, and that\u2019s the power of nostalgia. Nostalgia is something that\u2019s familiar but also exists in the present moment. We aren\u2019t going to call it old. We\u2019ll say it\u2019s very reminiscent of a time because sometimes people think age diminishes things. What people don\u2019t understand is that age is quality. Anything that can age gracefully is quality. As I continue to mature through the game, I\u2019m just going to get better with time. That\u2019s what these projects have been. It\u2019s just me taking my time to grow and taking a new approach to my music and my audience.<\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: With this \u201cO2\u201d album, you pay homage to your debut album. I found that really interesting because I\u2019ve studied your career, and you\u2019ve always been an artist who pushes forward. You don\u2019t really look back too much. But on this album, even with the album cover, you look back at what you\u2019ve done in the past, which feels new for you. What was the importance of looking back, and what did you discover when reflecting on your debut up until now?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: Honoring that connection to 2005, when I burst onto the scene as a solo artist, was important. It wasn\u2019t even planned. It was just a special time. I\u2019m going to reference Jay Z right now because he\u2019s celebrating his 30th anniversary. When you\u2019ve been part of an inspiring era, I think it\u2019s important to revisit those moments. \u201cO2\u201d is a real representation of maturation, not only within the scope of me as an artist but also as a businessman and as one of the few entertainers who has been out here as long as I have. \u201cO2\u201d was meant to pay homage to the beginning, the genesis. Shout out to all of the producers and songwriters who helped me cultivate that because this is only Part One. Part Two will be coming in the fall. \u201cO2\u201d is a real representation of a full circle moment.<\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: You worked with a lot of the heavy hitters like The Underdogs, Troy Taylor, R. Kelly, and Bryan-Michael Cox. It feels like you did a lot of studying early on because you were able to replicate that feeling that came from those classic records. Was that something you intentionally did early on, or did it just happen over time?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: I\u2019ve always been a sponge, and I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to work with those greats. It\u2019s only intelligent to take notes. It\u2019s only smart to ask, \u201cWait a minute. How does that function? What\u2019s that approach?\u201d Then you realize everybody is a little bit of gumbo. Everybody pulls from their experiences. I\u2019ve definitely modeled myself after those experiences because I\u2019ve worked with people like The Underdogs and <a href=\"https:\/\/youknowigotsoul.com\/pharrell-voices-of-fire-share-new-album-ophanim-stream\">Pharrell<\/a>, people who are still being honored in today\u2019s music. Of course I\u2019m a student. Of course I\u2019ve graduated from the school of R&amp;B chords. I\u2019m going to be part of bringing back those bridges and those classic elements that belong in songs because I had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest producers of all time. There are so many subgenres of R&amp;B now, but I\u2019ve decided exactly what I want to represent. I want to represent the historical foundation of R&amp;B, which is centered around love, sounds, progressions, feelings, context, and conversations. That\u2019s what R&amp;B has always been for me. As a contributor, I\u2019ll make sure R&amp;B keeps its decadence and its reverence. A few years ago, hip hop was really dominating everything. Music has these cycles where it\u2019s popular, then it has to go into the vault, grow, change, and shift. I\u2019m going to continue being a part of that because of my experience and because I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work with so many amazing producers.<\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: We\u2019re going to be celebrating 20 years of your sophomore album, \u201c21\u201d. What\u2019s crazy is that when people talk about the best albums from that era, \u201c21\u201d doesn\u2019t always get mentioned. But when people go back and actually look at the tracklist, they say, \u201cWait a minute, this is one of the best albums from that time.\u201d With all the great records on there, what do you remember about the synergy of that album? The other thing I\u2019ll tell you is that Adonis and Bryan Michael Cox shared with me that \u201cCircles\u201d by Marques Houston was originally crafted for you as well. I don\u2019t know if you knew that, but you can feel the synergy there. Take me back to that time. <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: Adonis, Eric Dawkins, Tony Dixon, <a href=\"https:\/\/youknowigotsoul.com\/tank-returns-with-new-single-control\">Tank<\/a>, these are all master craftsmen of R&amp;B The way songs were made back then is completely different from how songs are made now. There\u2019s always some kind of writing camp or pool of records today, but I\u2019ll always say it\u2019s special when a songwriter has the intention of writing a hit specifically for you. More than anything, that\u2019s what I got to experience during that era. I\u2019ll never forget Tank walking down the halls at The Underdogs and saying, \u201cYou need a song called \u2018O.&#8217;\u201d I remember thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s a dope song.\u201d What a song to represent me as a person and as an individual. No other artist really has a song that\u2019s modeled after themselves like that. That was something special. Those R&amp;B generals created that record along with some other amazing producers and songwriters. It\u2019s an honor, and I\u2019m always grateful for it. More than anything, I remember the intention behind the records. I was very young during that time, and I just remember having a ball making records.<\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: That \u201c21\u201d album is a classic. \u201cMidnight\u201d is a great one. <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: Come on, what do you know about \u201cMidnight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>YouKnowIGotSoul: Is the \u201cPassport\u201d album with you and James Fauntleroy ever coming out? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omarion: Yes it is. I don\u2019t know if I should be saying this, but we\u2019re already working on another part of it. We have parts of parts. If anyone knows James Fauntleroy\u2019s discography, they know he has an incredible amount of songs and output. I have a very special brotherhood with James Fauntleroy. That\u2019s my brother, so we create differently. We definitely want to roll this concept out because it\u2019s the first of its kind. We can\u2019t wait to share it with everybody. Don\u2019t worry, that\u2019s going to be available for your listening pleasure very, very soon.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/youknowigotsoul.com\/omarion-talks-new-album-showcasing-growth-in-sound-celebrating-20-years-of-sophomore-album-21-exclusive-interview\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>YouKnowIGotSoul had a chance to interview Omarion recently. The B2K singer has been very busy lately with the release of his new album \u201cO2\u201d&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":69643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rb","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}