“Omar is the most complete talent yet produced by British black music”… asserts the RCA Records press release, and while the obvious temptation is to dismiss such a sweeping statement as typically exaggerated record industry hype, fact is, that classically-trained singer/songwriter/produce/multi-instrumentalist Omar Lye Fook is pretty unique, in that he is the first ever UK artist to be unanimously acclaimed as a major influence by an entire generation of new black American acts. Indeed, while the heroes and heroines of today’s emerging ‘nu classic soul’ generation – Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Maxwell and Eric Benet included – all unreservedly hail Omar as one of their favourite artists, his appeal is seemingly even spreading to the hip hop nation too, as evidenced by the presence of Wu Tang’s raucously distinctive ‘Ol Dirty Bastard on his latest single, the hook-laden summer groove ‘Say Nothing’.

“Yeah, he’s on there – even though I still haven’t met him!” laughs an ever-affable Omar over morning coffee at RCA’s West London HQ. “It was all done through the record company. They pinned him down when he was over here and said ‘Look, we need a rapper for this track. Do you wanna do it?’. It so happened that he liked my music. So they paid him some dosh – and it was done!”

Indeed, with said track already emerging as one of Omar’s biggest radio and R&B hits to date, RCA understandably feel the climate is most definitely right for his new (and fourth) album ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ to finally elevate Omar from international cult hero status to mainstream, across-the-board stardom. “Yeah, in a way I consciously tried to make this recording more accessible to the eyes and ears of the masses as it were and not have it quite so jazzy as some of my past work”, admits Omar openly. “I also wanted to kind go back to how I did my second album – ‘Music’. You know, that one was a lot more acoustic. It had a lot of live strings and orchestral arrangements on it; whereas my last album “For Pleasure2, was more synthesizer-based. So, overall I’d say this new album is just a slight development from what I’ve done in the past, though I’m still basically approaching everything the same way.”

One significant development can be seen in the way that ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ has effectively transformed Omar from the hitherto consummate one-man-band to an enthusiastic collaborator. With the exception of two tracks produced by Omar alone in London (‘Spring Step’ and ‘World Of You’), the entire album was co-produced in LA by Omar alongside David Frank, formerly one half of Eighties R&B club duo The System. “Well, out of all the people I’d worked with in the past he was the easiest – ‘cause he’s someone you can bounce ideas off”, confirms Omar.

“While I’ll do something once and be happy with that, Dave is the complete opposite! He likes to try everything before he’s happy with a track! So I guess we find an easy medium between the two. Plus, because we both play keyboards and stuff, we tend to listen to each other more because we both know what we’re doing. I mean, it’s not like if you’re working in the studio with someone who maybe just sings or just lays bass. So, you know, it works professionally plus we get on as people – we have a bit of a laugh while we do it!”

Following in the footsteps of his aforementioned last set – which saw Omar working with soul legends Lamont Dozier and Leon Ware – ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ meanwhile boats guest vocals from his all-time favourite singer, Syreeta. The former wife of Stevie Wonder (famed in her own right for classic Seventies sides like ‘Spinnin & Spinnin’ and ‘Black Maybe’) lends her crystal-clear tones to both the undulating midtempo title track plus the lifting soul waltz ‘Lullaby’. “Because I’d worked with so many famous people last time around on ‘For Pleasure’, I thought ‘Well, it would be nice to have some more guest appearances by some of my idols’…and the first person I thought of was Syreeta”, explains Omar. “My manager, Keith Harris, managed to contact her quite easily. So, while I was in LA, I banged out a coupla tunes that I thought were perfect for her voice. She liked them, so she came down to the studio…and man, what a beautiful voice! She sounds now exactly as she did twenty years ago! In fact, after she’d left and I was recording alongside hers, I was almost crying ‘cause her voice is of such a quality that it just touches me in a way probably only a little kid singing really beautifully could! Plus she’s just so professional! She just goes in there, does her thing, and comes out! So, you know, it was a really big experience for me – though for her just another day’s work!

The new album’s most surprising track, however, is arguably Omar’s cover of The Stranglers’ haunting early Eighties pop hit ‘Golden Brown’, already scheduled to be the next single. “I always said that if I did a cover version I wanted to do something that was different and that just seemed the perfect tune! It was in the right key, it has the right kind of weirdness for me, and it’s a beautiful song too. It’s one of the first songs I ever bought and I think anybody you talk to – it doesn’t matter if they’re black or white or what kind of background they come from – will always know that tune. So I thought ‘What the heck?!’…you know, we did a nice version, it wasn’t too complicated. Dave did the strings and the instrumental arrangement…and it just worked out. We’re happy with it.”

Meanwhile, ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ also marks Omar’s first foray into the world of instrumentals with the ‘Car Wah’/‘Shaft’ inspired ‘Spring Step’, plus the dreamily haunting ethereal ‘Music For The Pipe’. “With ‘Spring Step’ I basically just wanted an instrumental track to play. So I got my mates together, we went to the studio and jammed it out!”, he laughs. “Then ‘Music For The Pipe’ developed while me and Dave were just messing about on a new keyboard he had. Some of the sounds on it were just fuckin’ amazin’ – and so, you know, I wrote that track out of those sounds. And the title – ‘Music For The Pipe’ – just says it all and it certainly ain’t for the flute! I mean, basically I was stoned during the whole album! You know, before I started I had writers’ block – I’d be starting songs and not be able to finish them, whatever…but I worked out why! It was because I wasn’t smoking pure weed! Because – almost as soon as I started smoking it – the music, the lyrics, the arrangements all just came and fell into place!”

With Omar having first tasted success via the now classic street soul anthem ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ on his father’s (Byron Lye-Fook) Harlesden-based independent Kongo Dance label back in 1990, he is now (certainly in contemporary black music terms!) almost approaching veteran status! So how does he look back over his time in the industry? “Well, I’ve actually been in the game for twelve years, and during that time I’ve had a lotta criticism for sticking to my guns about doing exactly the type of music I want to do”, he replies thoughtfully. “You know, I’ve had people say “Why isn’t he doin’ the swingbeat stuff that’s goin’ on now?” or “Why does he have to be different?” but, even though I’ve never sold millions, I’ve always had a loyal following. So now that this new generation of American artists are quoting my name, it’s not like I wanna say I told you so, but that’s really what it’s a case of! I mean, even when I did the ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ album, what I was thinking of back then was writing my own songs, doing a retro thing…which is exactly what the Americans are selling a lotta records with now! So, now that those people who were criticising me are being proved wrong, I’m not gonna gloat…but it is a nice feeling to know that you were right!”

Outside of his own solo career meanwhile Omar’s talents as a producer are becoming increasingly in demand, both in the UK and in the States. Recent projects include Vanessa Williams, new epic/Yab Yum artist Laurnea plus old friend and one-time Kongo labelmate Vanessa Simon; “Well, Vanessa Williams is another one who cites me as one of her favourite artists, and I thanked her for that ‘cause obviously it’s helping my profile”, explains Omar. “And she’s very professional to work with. Her mum and dad were music teachers, so she’s not just a pretty face! She’s actually very musically-included and extremely intelligent. Then the way I hooked up with Laurnea is quite a weird story. I met her at my first party in LA when she told me she knew my mum! Apparently they used to go to the same gym in Brixton when she was singing with Loose Ends. So when she got her label deal she said I was one of the people she wanted to work with – and we did it at Real World studios in Bath. Then with Vanessa Simon, although I did six tracks on her first album, the vibe this time around was for me just to do the one track. You know, you can tell if something’s gonna work or not and I’m not one of those people to work with someone just for the sake of it – and that was definitely the right track to do. You know, for me it has to work, it has to be right.”