Rapper Omen speaks with the Foxy 99 Team of G-Moniy and Babydoll at Dreamville Festival 2024 in Raleigh, NC.
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00:00Yo, what's great in the state?
00:01It is Ugly's brother on Radio G, Money in the House.
00:03Watch your mouth.
00:04It's day two of Dreamville.
00:06I'm here with...
00:07Baby doll.
00:08That's right.
00:08You know what I'm saying?
00:09And this brother right here, he just got off the stage, man.
00:12Omen is in the building.
00:13What's up, my brother?
00:13How you doing, man?
00:14Feeling good, bro.
00:15That's what I'm talking about.
00:16How you doing?
00:16How you doing?
00:17Good.
00:18So, I just saw your performance right now.
00:21I didn't get to see you perform last year, but I saw you this time.
00:24And this time caught me off guard.
00:26Okay.
00:26Because the beat is on.
00:28You know, and you sitting there chilling.
00:30And I'm like, what is he doing?
00:32Like, he's just sitting there in the notebook.
00:34Then he gets up, grabs the mic, and he spits the verse.
00:38After he spits the verse, he said, yeah, man, I just wrote this right now,
00:43and I just want to do that for you.
00:44Bro, you sold me right there.
00:45Thank you, bro.
00:46I appreciate that.
00:47As soon as I saw you, I was like, bro, we got to talk to him.
00:49It was a different kind of play.
00:50It was a risk, you know what I mean?
00:53I'm not going to lie.
00:54I felt a little anxiety before it, because I've never done nothing like that, you know?
00:56Oh, really?
00:57No, the reason I did that is because it's been a minute since I put out, like, a real
01:02full project, and my fans have been, like, on me, like, where's the new music?
01:06What's going on?
01:07Yeah, there's a debate about why, because they're saying Dreamville releasing a label
01:10to shelf an artist, so is it, like, your work overthinking?
01:13It's no issue with Dreamville.
01:14Overthinking?
01:15It's, what, it's, um, it's a, it's a various reasons.
01:20Some of it is overthinking.
01:21Like, some of it was overthinking, for sure.
01:23Some of it was, like, I had a child, pandemic.
01:27Some of it was, like, business stuff behind the scenes.
01:29People weren't doing their job, you know what I mean?
01:31But it's not a, it's not a Dreamville thing.
01:34We all good.
01:34It's just, um, you know, things happen.
01:37But with that said, I was like, okay, how can I come here?
01:41I don't want to come here again without giving them something.
01:43So I was like, what if I just wrote a verse live on stage and rapped that right in front
01:48of them?
01:48Like, made something new in front of them?
01:50And it was a big idea, you know?
01:52Because I'd never really seen that done.
01:53No, I never have.
01:55Yeah, so, you know, I was, it took a lot of time, but I was, I was really happy with how
02:00it went.
02:00Even as I was writing it, they was chanting, which I, I didn't know what they were going,
02:03I didn't know if people were going to be like, what is he doing?
02:05Like, what is going on?
02:06You know?
02:06But it went really well, so I was super happy.
02:09No, that was, look, because I was, I'm one of those people.
02:11Like, I was there, I was like, okay, I hear the beat.
02:13Yeah.
02:13Okay, this beat is, you know what I'm saying?
02:15This beat is nice.
02:16Appreciate it.
02:16I made that beat, by the way.
02:17Oh, you made, yeah, yeah.
02:18There you go.
02:19You know what I'm saying?
02:20He came back genuinely hype about the beat that you wrote there.
02:22Oh, dope.
02:23Nice.
02:23He was like, here's what I'm going to say.
02:25That's dope.
02:26So, so you've been, you've been Dreamville since day one?
02:30Oh, for sure, day one.
02:31Okay, so, so how is this festival experience for you?
02:34It's, bro, every year it's amazing because it's like, I love it, I don't know if y'all
02:39know, I've known him close since he's 15.
02:40So, like, I knew when Dreamville was just like, I remember the day he hit me, he was like,
02:45oh, I'm thinking about this name, Dreamville.
02:47I was like, that sounds cool.
02:48You know, like, so I never thought it would be like this until a festival with 50,000
02:51people and a rap label with, you know, legendary moments.
02:55It's, um, I'm just honored and grateful to be a part of it.
02:58You know what I mean?
02:59You even had your own, like, party this week, like a game night.
03:01I did, I did, yeah, so I did, I did one of those in Chicago some years ago and it went
03:06really well.
03:06So I was like, they, at first, originally they wanted to do like a jazz night because
03:10I do like jazz, but I was like, let's do something a little more fun, like more upbeat,
03:15like why don't we do a game night?
03:17We still can't make it a party, have drinks, have games.
03:20And again, I haven't really seen people do stuff like that.
03:22So I'm like, I like game nights.
03:24I like to, I'm a mellow dude, but I like to have fun.
03:26So it's like, it went really well.
03:28That's something I want to, I want to do more in other places.
03:30Okay.
03:31Yeah.
03:32So, I'm asking this question, because you said, you know, new Cole since he was 15.
03:37I'm from Deville.
03:38Okay.
03:39And we know that J. Cole is a baller.
03:40So I'm wondering, did you know him through basketball or was it music?
03:44Nah, so, I mean, obviously I knew he hooped, but it's, it's kind of a long story, but I met
03:49him, this is, oh man, this is a long time ago.
03:52It was late, late, late 90s, 98, 99, something around there.
03:59But we literally met on, at the time, AOL Instant Messenger.
04:03Oh man.
04:05We were crazy.
04:07We were, we were both fans of this.
04:09It was this artist named Cannabis out at the time.
04:11Yeah.
04:12We were both, we were both huge fans of him.
04:14So we were on this website.
04:15The website was full of like aspiring rappers and we just kind of connected on there
04:20and we would talk a lot and we realized like, not only do we have a lot of similarities
04:25just musically, but just the way we saw things.
04:27Like we just, we really, it's like, even if he didn't do music, we probably would have
04:32been friends.
04:32Cause it's just like, we saw things real similar.
04:34So that's like my brother for, I know people say that a lot, but like, that's really like,
04:39that's really like family.
04:40So, you know, I'm just, um, beyond the incredible artist he is, he's just an incredible person.
04:46Like people, I really wish people could know the kind of person he is because it's like,
04:51it's even bigger than the artist he is.
04:53So, um, yeah, that's how we met.
04:55Okay.
04:56Okay.
04:56So now you said, you said earlier that, you know, you didn't want to come out here without,
05:01you know, music for the fans and stuff.
05:02Now, now that this performance is over, we've got another year into Dreamville.
05:06Like, are we, are we getting the project or that's the plan for sure?
05:10Like I, I'm super ready to put this album out.
05:13If the business stuff still is in there, I'll just make a new album.
05:17Like I'm, I'm literally at the point where it's like, I just want to put music out.
05:20Well, you know, you can do it.
05:21You can write a verse before.
05:22Yeah, exactly.
05:24And it's like, honestly, even like a moment like today, it proves to myself, like, yeah,
05:27what am I doing?
05:28Like, if you could do that, just put, makes it, if I got headaches with the business,
05:32just make something else, you know, until, until that's finalized or sorted out.
05:36So, yeah, so, you know, I'm just, um, I'm just kind of in a different headspace of like,
05:43let's just, let's just do it.
05:44Let's adapt to whatever the situation is.
05:46You got to adapt and just keep it going.
05:49So I'm definitely, you have true Dreamville energy though.
05:51Like your humility.
05:53I love the whole vibe here.
05:55You embody that.
05:56I appreciate that.
05:57That's dope.
05:58So today is April 7th, 2024.
06:01By April 7th, 2025, what would Omen like to have accomplished?
06:06I'd like to have a studio album out.
06:10I would like to have a tour done for the album.
06:14I'd like to have, honestly, two projects out this year.
06:16Um, and honestly, I want to do more events.
06:20I want to do more, um, I want to take more risks like I did today.
06:24I want to, I want to do that again at some show, you know, like, I just want to make this
06:28a year of just being free and, um, not getting in my own way.
06:31Just not, not being in my head.
06:33Just like, if you feel it, it's on your heart.
06:35Just try it.
06:36Bro, that's an incredibly real thing to say because people in all walks of life,
06:41no matter what it is they do, like things like, like being in your head or, or life
06:46in general, things like that, you know, can sometimes deter your path.
06:51For sure.
06:51So, you know what I'm saying?
06:52I'm pretty sure somebody heard that and it was like, man, you're right.
06:56I got to get up and get it together.
06:58So, you know what I'm saying?
06:59Look at that.
06:59Life less is a dream.
07:01Come on, man.
07:01That's what I'm talking about, bro.
07:03Give us all your social media, where to find all your previous music, music, all that.
07:07Plug everything.
07:08Sure.
07:08So my, so my Instagram is just Omen, O-M, at O-M-E-N.
07:12My Twitter, same thing, at O-M-E-N.
07:15If you're on TikTok, it's Shy City Omen.
07:19Yeah, I mean, like I said, the music is coming out very soon, hopefully.
07:22And if that don't come out, something's coming out.
07:24I'm putting music out.
07:25Something's coming out.
07:26It's music coming out for sure.
07:28So just stay tuned.
07:29I'm also going to like, I'm going to start really opening up more to my fans.
07:33And it's like, I'm such a, my natural personality is kind of like homebody introvert.
07:41So, you know, I got to step out of my comfort zone a little because I do want fans to know what's going on and like seeing the process.
07:48The same way they saw me rap on stage, they can see that in a studio session or just like me talking about what's going on.
07:54So I kind of want to honestly like change my whole approach this year.
07:58So I'm looking forward to it.
08:00That would be dope.
08:01I think you would build an even deeper connection with your fans if you did something like that.
08:05I don't think, I don't think I've ever seen anybody do anything like that.
08:08You know what I'm saying?
08:09As far as I can remember.
08:11But you already know what's going down.
08:12Dreamville Day 2, man.
08:14Foxy 99, your number one stage for hip-hop and R&B.
08:16We out here with the bro Omen, man.
08:19You know what I'm saying?
08:20You know what to do.
08:21Keep it locked in.
08:22We out here.
08:23Peace and love.
08:24Peace and love.