Iman Omari is one of the best kept secrets within Los Angeles' music scene, even though his work has gone all over the place. He has already developed a name for himself as a producer, thanks to his work with the rambunctious Overdoz stoners and arguably the most important lyricist of this generation, Kendrick Lamar. His unique, heavily-filtered singing voice and his talent with the pen have also been recognized as the lead single and title track from his Energy mixtape found its way onto Solange Knowles' Saint Heron compilation album. A quick glance at his resume is more than enough to see that he is a complete artist who refuses to let categories or genres pigeonhole his creative expression.
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Just in time for the holidays, Omari has released his latest project, Vibe Tape +++ 2; a twelve track instrumental tape that is the perfect stocking stuffer for the special stoner in your life. Without exaggeration, every beat captures the essence of a good high—spacey, unobtrusive, and perfectly laidback. Each one flows into the next, maintaining the comfortably velvet atmosphere, which will keep your head bumping in a smooth rhythm. To give listeners a taste of what was coming, he let loose "Unleash", a four minute excursion into a world filled with smiles and blue skies.
"Unleash" features the steady, soft percussion found throughout the beat tape; emphasizing the relaxing element of the music and it works extremely well. This is not a dig at Omari, but you could fall asleep to this track, which would presumably lead to the best dreams possible. If the nice rhythm doesn't thoroughly chill you out, the beautiful melody will finish the job. The keys and the synthesizers play interesting chords that emote happiness right from the start. Wailing vocals normally indicate pain of some sort, but the way Omari distorted the sample in the background takes away any signs of hurt or negativity. It is pure contentment in a song.
If you enjoyed this song, you will definitely want to check out the rest of the tape, which is avaliable on his bandcamp page. However, the bulk of Omari's music can be found on his Soundcloud page and spot that is worth your attention as well.
