Adil Omar

Adil Omar
Adil Omar, photographed by Mobeen Ansari in Islamabad, 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Adil Omar
Also known as	A.O. Paki Rambo Adilla the Hun Hanzo Hasashi The Reptilian Tongue Abominable Sandman The Southeast Savage
Born	(1991-05-17) May 17, 1991 (age 21)
Origin	Islamabad, Pakistan
Genres	Hip-Hop, Rock, Hardcore Rap
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter, lyricist, actor, producer
Instruments	Vocals, lyrics, rapping
Years active	2004–Present
Associated acts	B-Real, Penn Jillette, DJ Solo, Cypress Hill, Soul Assassins, Everlast, Xzibit, Fredwreck, Greydon Square, DJ Lethal, Hard Target, Talal Qureshi, Danny Diablo, Sick Jacken, Meesha Shafi, Kool G Rap
Website	Official Website

Adil Omar (born May 17, 1991) is a rapper and singer-songwriter from Islamabad, Pakistan. He has also collaborated with mainstream artists such as Cypress Hill, Xzibit, Everlast, Kool G Rap, DJ Lethal of House of Pain and Limp Bizkit and Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller among others. He is currently working on his debut album, The Mushroom Cloud Effect, for a 2012 release and has been featured extensively in various press outlets such as Associated Press, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post and more.

Early life

Omar was born on May 17, 1991 in London, England but spent his entire childhood growing up in Islamabad. His mother is a writer and part time television host and his father was a businessman. His great grandfather, Zafar Omar is credited to be the first Urdu detective novelist for writing the book "Neeli Chathri".^[1]

Omar experienced the loss of his father to alcoholism at 10 and his mother had a near-death experience with encephalitis the same year, suffering from amnesia in the early part of her recovery, leaving her with epilepsy. He is also a high school drop out.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Music career

Career beginnings

Omar had started writing lyrics at the age of 9 but recorded his first song at 14. Heavily relying on websites such as Soundclick, Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and iLike to promote his music, he eventually found himself gaining a fan-base by releasing songs as free mp3 downloads. He has also mentioned that he experimented with horrorcore and mafioso rap in his early stages but took a more honest approach with his lyrical content by the time he was 16. Though he dismissed it as being "silly", he also stated that it was a learning experience. Apart from gaining recognition on the internet, he had been getting national news coverage, local live performances and plays on the radio.^[7]

In 2008, Omar was invited by B-Real of Cypress Hill to record a song in Los Angeles for an album titled The Harvest which B-Real had been working on. They recorded a song called "Takeover" which featured Omar and B-Real on the verses, and B-Real's protege Young De on the chorus. Fredwreck was also present during the recording session but was not a part of the song. Omar and Fredwreck continue to stay in touch as friends. Fredwreck has done production work for his debut album.^[8]

Collaborations, rise in popularity

In mid 2009, Omar collaborated with magician, comedian and actor Penn Jillette of the duo Penn & Teller and producer DJ Solo of Soul Assassins on a protest song called "Spookshow". The song was featured on a compilation album by Thick Syrup Records alongside music by Matt Cameron, members of Pearl Jam, Half Japanese, Teenage Fanclub, Mudhoney and Soundgarden.^{[9][10][11][12]}

He has since appeared on songs with MC Lars, Prince Ea and Spragga Benz and done album appearances alongside Canibus and Chino XL. He is also reported to be involved in the Sonic Peacemakers project with Lanny Cordola, Atif Aslam, Shehzad Roy, Arieb Azhar, Gilby Clarke and Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver and more.^[13]

On August 8, 2010, Omar launched his official website with an online single and music video titled "Incredible". The free single was produced by DJ Solo and sampled Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" as well as Jesus Christ Superstar's "Heaven on Their Minds", with an interpolation of "The Roof Is on Fire" by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three in the song's outro. The video was shot around Islamabad and Wah Cantonment, including scenes inside a customized Pakistani truck and also featured a cameo appearance by fashion and media icon Tariq Amin.^[14][15][16]

Debut album, 2011 present

Omar announced his debut album, The Mushroom Cloud Effect, through his website for an early 2012 release. Producers include Fredwreck, DJ Lethal, DJ Solo, Apathy, Talal Qureshi and others, with guests including Xzibit, B-Real, Everlast, Kool G Rap, Meesha Shafi, Sick Jacken and Greydon Square. The first single, produced by Fredwreck and featuring Xzibit, is titled "Off The Handle" and was released on May 24, 2011 with a music video by Matt Alonzo.^[17][18][19]

A second single, produced by DJ Solo, titled "Paki Rambo" was released on October 2, 2011 with a video directed by Shahbaz Shigri and Aisha Linnea. "Paki Rambo" is also the original soundtrack for Shigri and Linnea's feature film 'Gol Chakkar'. "Paki Rambo" was inspired by and sampled dialogue from the Chris Morris film Four Lions, and was also promoted by Four Lions actors Riz Ahmed and Kayvan Novak. Though it received positive reviews, it also generated controversy in Pakistan for objectionable content in its lyrics and music video, as well as its use of the word "Paki".^[20][21] In 2012 he was nominated in the Lux Style Awards for Best Emerging Talent as a solo artist, as well as Shahbaz Shigri and Aisha Linnea in Best Music Video Director for "Paki Rambo".^[22]

Film and television

Omar provided a cameo role, playing himself, for the independent film Slackistan, written and directed by BAFTA nominated filmmaker and screenwriter Hammad Khan. The film's original soundtrack featured bands like The Kominas and Zerobridge. The film also premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2010 but was banned in Pakistan temporarily. The ban was lifted in 2011.^[23][24][25]

In 2011, Omar made guest appearances on Tariq Amin's reality show T With T as well as an uncredited cameo in a short film titled The Wink. He is also on VBS.tv's episode on Islamabad and has been interviewed briefly on Geo TV, MTV Pakistan and other Pakistani channels.^[26]

Omar was offered a role in an upcoming independent film titled Gol Chakkar which he couldn't take due to scheduling conflicts, however he is contributing to the soundtrack of the film with the DJ Solo produced "Paki Rambo", also to be included his album, as well as the Shoaib Akhtar tribute "Pindi Express".^[27]

Style and influences

Omar classifies himself as a hardcore hip-hop artist with concept driven subject matter. He often uses metaphors, multisyllabic rhymes and has a rugged voice. Some of his live performances differ from his recorded music as he tends to use a backing band to accompany him as he performs both his own work and sometimes even cover songs. Two covers he tends to do frequently are "Jump Around" by House of Pain and "99 Problems" by Jay Z. Critics have pointed out his fusing of genres, the braggadocio in his lyrical content, as well as themes of a more emotional nature.^[28][29]

Omar considers his main musical influences to be Trent Reznor, Everlast, Johnny Cash, House of Pain, Nine Inch Nails, Neil Young, Cypress Hill, N.W.A., Motörhead, Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang Clan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Big Pun, Kool G Rap, early Eminem, RZA, Tupac Shakur, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Onyx, DJ Muggs, Gang Starr, Nas, Rick Rubin, Run DMC, Marilyn Manson, Rakim, Kid Rock, 50 Cent, Nate Dogg, Sticky Fingaz and his non-musical influences to be Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Carl Sagan, Christopher Hitchens, Henry Rollins and Mickey Rourke.^[30][31]

Personal life

Omar is a sound-color synesthete and states that he has never used drugs or alcohol.^{[32][33][34][35]}

On May 4 2012, Omar reportedly faced a near death experience upon receiving an electric shock in the shower. He escaped with minor injuries. ^[36][37]

Omar also has tattoos by Mister Cartoon, one which was inspired by Nine Inch Nails' "Just Like You Imagined".^[38]

Controversy

Omar has been critical of MSNBC and The Express Tribune for misrepresentation and lack of research in their articles about him. In December 2009, MSNBC's World Blog featured Omar and he felt that they had misquoted him, taken his thoughts out of context and focused little on his music.^[39][40] In February 2011 The Express Tribune published an article where they introduced him with lyrics from "Like A G6" by Far East Movement which Omar felt was irrelevant, irresponsible and contradicted him as an artist and a human being. He also stated that they got the title of his album wrong and did not listen to his music or conduct any research before interviewing him or publishing the article.^[41][42]

Discography

Solo albums

• 2012: The Mushroom Cloud Effect

Collaboration albums

• 2013: 50 Feet Tall (with Hard Target)
• 2013: Serpents of Eden (with Greydon Square)

Filmography

• 2010: Slackistan, cameo
• 2011: The Wink, cameo
• 2011: T With T, himself

Selected guest appearances

• 2009: "Under the Weather" also with Saeed Elahi, from American Scumbag by Hibernation
• 2009: "Violentology", from The Zeitgeist Mixtape by Various Artists
• 2009: "Hollow Cost" also with Prince Ea, from The Grand Deception by Conspiracy of Mind
• 2009: "Spookshow" also with Penn Jillette, from My MPC Is A Pipe Bomb by DJ Solo
• 2010: "Takeover" also with Young De, from The Harvest by B-Real
• 2010: "Islamabad II", from Slackistan: The Soundtrack by Various Artists
• 2010: "Whiplash", from The RapMusic Mixtape by Various Artists
• 2010: "Burn Muthafucka (Incredible/Serbian Film Remix)", from DJ Solo's Nightmare Before Christmas by DJ Solo
• 2011: "No Matter the Stakes", from Mad Thrillz EP by Grey Matter
• 2011: "Gone Crazy" also with Matt Maddox, from Weapons of Mass Awareness by RedPhone Records
• 2011: "First Strike" also with Block McCloud, from Apocalypse by SickSteen
• 2011: "Spookshow" also with Penn Jillette & DJ Solo, from '78 LTD: Compilation CD by Thick Syrup Records
• 2011: "Point of No Return" also with DZK, Cryptic Wisdom and Marpo, from Karma: The Mixtape by Hard Target
• 2011: "SHINE" also with Fredwreck, from SHINE (Single) by thekeenone
• 2012: "Ten Thousand", from Bunny Slippers by Gravity Wisewords
• 2012: "Holy Mountain" also with Dro Pesci and Exel, by Ruste Juxx
• 2012: "Drawing Board", from RPG's by Just 1 and Matt Maddox
• 2012: "End of Silence" also with DJ Solo, Diesel & Adlib, from The Blood of Eden by Danny Diablo
• 2012: "Lollipop", from Lollipop (Single) by Mina Fedora
• 2012: "Love I Feel" also with Marjan, from The Equator by Talal Qureshi

References

External links

• Official Website
• Adil Omar at Facebook
• Adil Omar at Twitter
• Adil Omar at YouTube
• Adil Omar at Myspace
• Adil Omar at the Internet Movie Database