Posted: Thursday – February 25, 2010

[rating=5]
At the beginning of Lil Wayne’s America’s Most Wanted tour this past summer, it was announced that Omarion would be the newest member of the Young Money family. That coupled with the leaking of Omarion’s initial single, I Get It In, off his upcoming album featuring that same Weezy seemed to be signaling a great future for the R&B mainstay who had been out of the spotlight since his successful last album, 21. A split however, one that both Omarion and Wayne consent was done as a “business decision”, placed Omarion on EMI’s record label and following the release of a re-done I Get It In with southern sensation Gucci Mane, Omarion releases his newest album, Ollusion.

Starting off with the aforementioned I Get It In, the single seems to have a formula for success. The only negative behind it is the fact that the already leaked version with Lil Wayne was so much better than this version, as both artists seem to have a working connection on the song that added not only the star-power, but the chemistry that makes R&B/rap collaborations successes. The next track up is very forgettable, Last Night, which seems not very authentic and pale in comparison with an Omarion song with a similar theme, his first solo single O. Hoodie featuring upcoming West Coast artist Jay Rock, is an interesting theme, and is greatly aided by the music video, which Omarion said was a tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

These songs however, are not what have made Omarion successful, either as a solo artist or as part of the group B2K. His bread and butter are the slower paced ballads, which this album does not lack. Speedin is an awesome play and has great potential as a future single. Temptation is also an outstanding ballad about females tempting Omarion, in which he performs at the top of his ability, making the song even that enjoyable and replayable. Sweet Hangover seems like another potential hit with a feel that reminds one of the song’s producer, T-Pain. This if anything is one of the album’s greatest qualities, its ability to pick from a lot of different niches in R&B and Omarion demonstrating he make great music within all of them, as demonstrated by Thee Interlude featuring his stepbrother Marques Houston and Sweet Hangover.

This album is up and down a very good piece of work, except for a few potential missteps. In addition to the mentioned Last Night, the end of the album has a couple of tracks that would have served better if left off the album. Wet seems like an almost exact replica of Temptation but a way worse song, both in its theme and its performance. I Think My Girl Is Bi is a definite misfire, with a laughable theme and even worse lyrics. Code Red isn’t a terrible track, but seemed more destined for bonus track status. That brings me to the last negative, the fact that the album is unbelievably short, totaling just over 38 minutes of playing time. With tracks such as Speedin, Sweet Hangover and I Get It In, more should have been added along those lines, especially considering the fact that Omarion has been away from music for nearly 3 years.

Overall, this album is an enjoyable experience that will drive hardcore Omarion fans towards stores. More fair-weathered fans might want be tempted to just pick the best tracks off of iTunes and replay those tracks over and over again. More work like this however, and Omarion won’t have any problem recouping his position towards the top of the R&B game.

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