About
“When you get right down to it,” Nadir explains, “I’m all about telling stories, singing songs and making music that moves people – spiritually, emotionally, physically, politically, whatever. Don’t just sit there! Do something!”
In the finest tradition of rock and roll storytellers comes Nadir. Taking elements of rock and combining them with soul and pure unadulterated funk, Jonah Nadir Omowale and his band aim to move people – in more ways than one.
Omowale has been a noted singer/songwriter, producer, journalist, and activist since his solo debut, Distorted Soul 2.0 which was released in 2004 to rave reviews, partially due to his unwillingness to be musically pigeonholed. While neo-soul lovers spoke highly of the record, fans of rock and funk also claimed some ownership of the gifted artist.
The album was followed by tours of the southern US, Europe and Canada, and led to a series of remixes in 2007 of the track, “Slave”. Slave: The Remixtape was a #5 Breakout track on Billboard’s Club Play charts. It was also used for a PSA for U.S. House Resolution 635 as part of a series that included rapper/activist Immortal Technique, Pete Seeger, Gore Vidal, and other notables.
Taking a step deeper into his rock origins, Nadir’s second full length, 2008’s Workin’ For The Man, was a combination of live and studio tracks. Alternating from the politically charged to the deeply emotional, it set the stage for a series of changes for the man and the band itself. Omowale was a correspondent for MTV’s Emmy award winning Choose or Lose Street Team, covering the 2008 US Presidential race. The aftermath of this and other developments gave him a fresh outlook not just politically, but musically as well.
At the end of 2009, Omowale recruited a new band, featuring keyboardist Alesha Brown, bassist Christopher Spooner, and drummer Mia Treadwell. The quartet has been in the studio working on what promises to be a musical journey through love and pain, choice and consequence, slated for release in spring of 2010.
Not content to stay in the studio, Omowale has also just completed a video for the emotionally charged composition, “Guantanamo,” from Working For The Man. The track will be released on DJ friendly vinyl through pioneering electronic/techno label Underground Resistance.
Nadir is a man with many stories to tell and even more insights to share. His powerful rhythms set the foundation for his perceptive lyrics and in the tradition of all great storytellers, engage the listener and create a strong desire to hear and learn more.
Nadir’s Electronic Press Kit ~ Media Kit (pdf) ~ Interviews & Features
NADIR has received several recent awards for his work including:
- Nine Detroit Music Awards: Three in a row (2005-2007) for Outstanding Urban/Funk Songwriter; Outstanding Urban/Funk Vocalist (2006, 2008, 2009); Outstanding Urban/Funk/Hip Hop Recording (2005) for Distorted Soul 2.0 and (2009) for Workin’ For The Man; Outstanding Electronic Dance Recording (2008) for Slave: The Remixtape
- Distorted Soul 2.0 named Best Funk CD of 2005 by SoulPatrol.com
- A finalist berth in the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest for “Slave”
On Nadir’s latest album, Workin’ For The Man, revolutionary socio-political commentary collides with explosive funk and hip hop. Nadir describes the album as a “political dance record” designed to make you dance and think at the same time. It earned him a 2009 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Urban/Funk/Hip Hop Recording, and Distorted Soul’s live version of the Eagles’ classic “Life In The Fast Lane” was named Best Rock Song of 2008 by Soul-Patrol.com.
Workin’ For The Man is a high powered political barn burner, packed with revolutionary funk, soul, rock, hip hop and house. Bob Davis of Soul-Patrol.com says, “Imagine if you could listen to an album that sounded like it was James Brown + Gil Scott-Heron + Public Enemy?” And… “This is clearly one of the best new releases of the year and something that is truly worthy of your attention at this time.”
“Nadir is a revolutionary artist. Nadir has a revolutionary agenda. Nadir thinks that it is ok to HAVE FUN and THINK. Nadir’s new album Workin’ for the Man makes you do both.”
- www.soul-patrol.com-
Slave: The Remixtape, which offers fourteen very different remixes of Nadir’s award-winning composition “Slave” (and six additional tracks online) – in Crunk, Funk, Hip-hop, Rock, Funky House, Techno styles and more – was a #5 Breakout track on Billboard’s Club Play chart, and took home a Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Electronic Dance Recording. Guaranteed to make you a slave to the dancefloor!
“It’s a fantastic example of what remixers can do when given good material… If you’re into remixes, Nadir’s Slave: The Remixtape is a tour-de-force of remixing.” -Synthtopia-
Distorted Soul 2.0 was crowned “Best Funk Album of the Year” by Soul-Patrol.com and earned a Detroit Music Award for “Outstanding Urban Funk/Hip-Hop Recording”, after international spins on Urban A/C, Rock, Urban Contemporary and even Smooth Jazz radio.
Distorted Soul 2.0 is a ground-breaking album that has received rave reviews from critics and listeners alike. Chris Rizik of Soultracks.com says “The praise is well deserved, as this is absolutely infectious urban rock, calling to mind the better moments of artists from Ernie Isley to Lenny Kravitz.” Dirk Binsau, publisher of the website Jazz-Not-Jazz.com, believes NADIR “has really developed a sound and style of his own and Distorted Soul 2.0 is very different from what I’ve heard in a long time and that’s what makes this album special.”
“Its STONE COLD FUNK, it makes you DANCE, it ROCKS your world, its got GREAT LYRICS, it’s got POWERHOUSE SOUL SINGING, it’s got GREAT MUSCIANSHIP, it makes you THINK about the world and it makes you SMILE.” – www.soul-patrol.com-
