Jimmy & Terry

In June 2010 Omar K. Mills destroyed the proverbial "box". I sat down with him to talk about his -then- new project, 'Bearded Honey' and asked him what inspired this departure from the norm. Now, in March 2011, just a short while later, he has introduced 5 new tracks to the CD and new artwork. I sat down with him to talk about what prompted the change...

Kasim Whittier:
Let me guess...you weren't finished?

Omar K. Mills:
(Laughs) Nobody knows me better than you, 'Sim. No, I wasn't done when I thought I was.

KW:
What told you that you weren't finished?

OKM:
I still had songs in me that sounded like *this* album. It started when I was recording what was supposed to be, "Bearded Honey Too" - the follow-up. I got about halfway through and then the creativity just stopped. I have learned that God writes when He wants to write. You can't force Him to do it when you want to. 5 tracks wasn't enough to warrant a new release, so I decided to add these new tracks to the existing album.

KW:
The new cover is very nice. You also ordered glossy jackets this time. Talk to me about those things.

OKM:
The artwork was what I wanted the first time, but I didn't have the artist. I talked to my friend Catherine Lee (check her out on FaceBook) and she hooked me up. The cover is hot. I had to spend a little extra coin to get jackets printed up through Disc Makers.

KW:
You also reordered the tracks. Why?

OKM:
Last time I just put them in the order that I wrote them. You never know when you write what songs people are going to like. You only know what you like. So far, "Grizz" is the most popular track on the album (Grizz Kilday). That kills me, because it's the track use the most samples on (laughs). Still, it cranks, so I can't be that mad. I don't think it's the best track on the album though. Not anymore.

KW:
One of the newer ones then? Talk to me about them.

OKM:
The first new track is called "Feel My Flow". It features a sample from looperman.com by Kate Dilemma. What I like about it is that I only used a small snippet of what she uploaded and made it fit my track. The song cranks too. The second new track is called "Jimmy & Terry", and is an homage to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis - two of my favorite producers of all time. Third new track is called, "Swan Song". Wrote that after my girlfriend and I broke up. Fourth new track is called, "Come On, Baby" and was inspired by LL Cool J's song, "Jingling Baby". Last new song is called, "Baila Conmigo" - my first ever song in Spanish (though the chorus is in English). I think that track is the hit of the album.

KW:
I noticed that you didn't remove any tracks. Had you considered doing so?

OKM:
Several times. I ultimately decided to keep everything because you never know who will like what songs. The song you think is the hit in the studio ends up being the one that sells the least often times. The songs I almost leave off of albums end up being the hits. My A&R skills are awful (laughs).

KW:
Well, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to listening to it for a long time. I like that it doesn't invade your space unless you want it to.

OKM:
Appreciate that. Appreciate the time as always.

Omar's new music combines a lot of things that normally don't go well together, but in his hands it just works. Bearded Honey has the potential to be a lot more than just a commercial 'departure' project for Omar. This could be the beginning of something really special. A movement that frees artists up to do what they like and not just what they think labels want them to sound like. Check out this disc. You'll be glad you did.

Written by Kasim Whittier for Elyon Entertainment.
3/21/2010.

All songs written, produced and performed by Omar K. Mills. Vocal loops and Beats provided by looperman.com, Cindee Noble, siliconbeats.com, platinumloops.com and Urban Beats. All other instruments and programming by Omar K. Mills. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Omar K. Mills at Elyon Entertainment, Fairfax VA. (c)2011 Bearded Honey Music.