Lemar : iSOUND.COM™

Biography

Less than two year ago, Lemar Obika’s hopes of making it as a singer seemed to be dead in the water. Having actually achieved his ambition of securing a record deal with a major record label, the twenty five year old singer’s dream suddenly turned to dust when, before even getting a record out, his contract was cancelled: a victim of internal changes at the label.

This was a cruel blow for the twenty five year old Tottenham born singer who had spent nearly seven years building his reputation on the London R&B scene: performing alongside the likes of Destiny's Child and Usher along the way.

Reluctantly, Lemar returned to his old day job as an accounts manager at the Nat West Bank and weighed up his options. Chief amongst these was a return to full time education: the singer having earlier turned down a place to study Pharmacy at Cardiff University in favour of pursuing his singing career. As it turned out, however, fate was to have different plans in store for him.

"I'd left my keys in the staff cafeteria one lunch time and went back to get them," he remembers. "That's when I saw the TV advert for Fame Academy. It was completely a chance thing. I think if I hadn't of gone through what I'd gone through with my record deal I wouldn't really have been interested. But I really thought there was no other option - here was one final chance for me to say - 'This is me'. It really was the last straw."

As is so often the case, it would be this last throw of the dice that would provide an unexpected breakthrough. For having entered, not only did Lemar make his way through the qualifying rounds and onto the finals of the BBC Fame Academy show but his performances of Al Greens's - Let¹s Stay Together and duet with Lionel Ritchie on Easy Like A Sunday Morning would become highlights of the programme’s ten week run.

With his all too obvious talent and charisma confirming him as an early favourite with the programmes huge audience, Lemar would eventually make it to the show¹s final week before ending up coming third in the overall competition. Well aware of the pitfalls of appearing on such a programme, Lemar feels that overall Fame Academy was a positive experience: the key point for him is that he managed to achieve his success on Fame Academy whilst also managing to stay true to himself, both musically and personally.

“I had a lot of apprehensions about doing the show because the only thing you could compare it to at that point was Pop Idol,” he now admits. “I didn’t want to be ridiculed or forced to sing pop. In the advert they said you could sing your own genre of music and that’s what convinced me - because I felt there would be scope for me to do what I wanted to do. And it turned out to be true,” he says.

Certainly those viewing were struck by the authenticity of Lemar’s talents and his lack of affectation. Amongst the millions captivated by Lemar’s appearances was the Queen of UK R&B, Beverly Knight, who was so impressed by the aspiring singer that she wrote to the shows producers inviting him to join her onstage at her gig at the Hammersmith Apollo when he finished the show.

"I only caught Fame Academy on TV a couple of times and saw Lemar on both occasions,” says Beverly. “I just thought he was really good and promising, so I asked Lemar to join me at The Hammersmith Apollo. I perform a duet in my live shows and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for him to showcase his talent within a more soulful and different environment.”

With the concert falling the day after Lemar actually left Fame Academy, it would be his first taste of life after Fame Academy and his first opportunity to really gauge public opinion. As it turned out he had no reason to worry. “The reception was absolutely amazing. I hadn¹t even sung and there was a standing ovation. Then we sang her song Beautiful Contradiction together and the place went mad. So I was over the moon - it was like wow,” he says.

This positive response has been repeated virtually everywhere Lemar goes, whether it be on the nationwide Fame Academy tour that followed the TV show, or out on the street as Lemar goes about his daily business. He says: “Everyone has been so nice. From the streetest streetest cat to the most sort of middle class lady, everybody’s been great. I was just walking down the street now and this young guy came up to me and was like, ‘Yo, Lemar, you’e large’.”

It’s this mixture of street credibility and mainstream appeal, together with Lemar’s outstanding vocal abilities, which have seen the cream of the UK’s writing and production teams lining up to work with him. Stargate, So Solid Crew, Cut Father & Joe and Blacksmith are just a few of the names Lemar has been in the studio with recording his debut album ‘Dedicated’ and his follow up due for release at the end of the year.

Lemar’s first single Dance (With You) has been his biggest hit to date. A song which Lemar describes as – “a cross between Michael Jackson and Musiq Soulchild.” The song cleverly manages the balancing act of staying true to the R&B scene where Lemar comes from and also keeping in tow the audience he built up with Fame Academy.

Says Lemar: “When I did the Fame Academy Tour I really saw that my audience is very broad: so I want to make sure that I incorporate people. On my albums I want to pull in the street side and make sure there’s enough there for them, because that’s where I from, but I also don’t want to lose the audience that I built up on TV. So, it’s basically soulful R&B, that’s the base, and when I do mainstream it’s tasteful and in keeping with that.”

Artist Forum


Discussion Topic	Creator
lil miss dis here topic board is 4 me 2 converse wit lil miss cos ma message thingy aint workin so no eavesdroppers.	jiggyX7

Replys	Listener
so, we was talkin bout god, yeah? i like gospel musik, preachs and singing. im a christian altho i dont shove ma religion in n e 1s faces. do u believe in god? and what it like livin in spain? it cool yeah?	jiggyX7
hi jiggy we'll talk tomorrow coz my sista's on da computer ok?? BYE	lilmiss
hi jiggy we'll talk tomorrow coz my sista's on da computer ok?? BYE	lilmiss
dats cool. i can wait	jiggyX7
wazaaa, jiggy ?? what were we talkin' 'bout? by the way i didn't know u knew love_flag!!	lilmiss
yeah, we bin sendin each otha messages 4 a few months now. how? u send him messages 2, huh? and i think u was askin me if i was in2 gospel stuff and i said yeah. im a religious guy. ma uncle is a minister bak in trinidad.	jiggyX7
i did a concert in june, we sang gospels songs like: joyful, happy day and down by the riverside. I was the singer i sang a good part of the gospels songs. It was just wonderful i loved it!! Iwill never forget it, after da last song people just were callin' us to sing again !! Of course wa did it we sang happy day again !! U would have loved it like i did. After da concert everybody asked us to do another one i just couldn't believe my ears!! i had to sing alone "Nobody" by Amstrong, i was so fuckin' nervous everybody lookin' at me i was just like: fuck i'd better not forget the lyrics!! Well u gotta know i'm very talkative, what about u, what do u like doin' "in ur life".	lilmiss
U know in my class a good part of pleople disrespect GOD they think it's just a lot of shit that people that made up and that it has no sense, so let's say i don't have da pleasure of meetin' people like u everday, it's some kind of new!!	lilmiss
me neither. people always dissin me in dis country cos of ma religion or ma colour. im reppin tha often 4gotten-about, ghetto-underclass, emigration-scum here in britain. its pretty shitty here and i always get homesik. i wouldnt have had 2 move here if it wasnt 4 tha fact dat bak in trinidad we couldnt find work so dats how i ended up out here in Scotland. well dats whats happinin in ma life but how did u go from cameroon to congo alla tha way 2 spain?i used 2 b a gospel singer bak in trini. its pretty cool aint it? now ma voice is broken and i cant sing 4 shit. so, u do concerts a lot, huh?	jiggyX7
oh !! it's a big big story: i was born in cameroun but my parents r from congo and my brothers as well- let's say i'm da only one who is born in cameroun. My father is an ambassador and they sent him to Spain so i just passed 3 months in cameroun, i can't remember anything and less more congo coz i have never bin to congo!! I'm livin' in Spain since i'm 3 months so i speak spanish fluently and french as well (coz my parents speak french). But now i study in france but let's say i keep livin in spain coz everytime i have hollydays i go back "home", i'd love to go -just 4 1ce- to congo just to see how it is like. I don't do a lot of concerts my school -in france- organize once a year a concert and sometimes we do 2 concerts, and this year the "topic" was da gospel. I love singing so i proposed myself to be one of the singers of the choir. Well they chose coz they think i have a beautiful voice and all da shit... Let's say -to me- i sing better in english than in french, so i guess dats why they chose me. It's bin a while u sing?? I mean u love singin since u can talk??	lilmiss
i used 2 b in a gospel choir in ma uncles church bak home. but ma voice has broken now and i cant sing no mo. so im now an amateur rap artist i rap at parties and at clubs and special events and stuff like dat. i speak french 2:"salut. j'ai quatorze ans et j'adore le rap musique. je alle un cathedral en dimanche et j'habite en petit maison" ive bin learnin a foreign lamguage 4 what? 6years now and i dont think ive improved much. i also tried 2 learn swahili. now DAT was a mistake...	jiggyX7
C'mon i'm sure i' wasn't as bad as u think so, i love learnin' forein' languages, 4 example English i love it and i'm still learnin'. If ur vouice's broken ur voice is gonna get better someday,no? Or u mean broken of when u grow up and ur voice changes?? Well then u can allways try, i guess. Ton français n'est pas mal du tout t'as déjà été en France? T'apprends le français à l'école ou de ton côté?? Ulive in Scottland, right?? How's da weather up there??	lilmiss
By the way i'd love to hear u rappin'	lilmiss
i couldnt undastand tha french bit. all i could undastand iz:"...summer...skool....????????....!!! !!!!.....????" after 6years of french im still crap at it! oh, tha weather is meant 2 b real hot 2day but its neva really got started. its dry but cloudy. and if u wanna see me rappin go 2 tha lil kim 4um. i'll tell u xactly which 1 in a minute. bak in a 2nd	jiggyX7
it tha 4um dat has tha title "lil kim u is ma favourite artist. i loved u every" and its by tyris. its a freestyle so its aiight.	jiggyX7
ok i'll go right now.	lilmiss
me 2	jiggyX7
Jiggy the day u'll wanna form a two member group with some gal call me i'll do the vocals and u'll do the rap thing ok?? I'll give u my number.	lilmiss
haha! i take it u like ma skillz huh? i also posted a relly wak rap on tha brandy 4um a few months bak. u can look at dat if u want	jiggyX7
ok, i'll check. So what do u like at school?	lilmiss
i do a lotta art. im good at it. i draw on tha walls in ma house. i make ma own wallpaper by drawing pictures of rappers and football playaz. its what i do. im also good at english, but i suk at french >_<. i set tha whole corridor on fire using ma 'outstanding' chemistry techniques and im really good at modern studies. oh yeah, ma physics teacher gave tha record amount of punishment exercises in ma schools history 2 me cuz i suk at physics mo dan n e thing else. im tha best in ma class at P.E. im in a high class 4 maths(altho i cant undastand y). wen it cums down 2 it, rappin is tha onli hope i have career wise.	jiggyX7
don't say that adam, u know i don't really know u but u seem kinda clever ev'rybody is bad at some subject: 4 xample i'm really bad at P.E (lets say i'm good at rugby and box) and i don't really care. I think ur really intelligent u'll surely find the perfect career 4 u . U're interesting, funny, nice, cool, and i'm sure u're a good person!! U don't have to worry right now no one's really sure of nothin'. I dunno if i have already told but u're da kind of guy dat i'd loved to cross in da street. Da guys around here r all so ... so fuckin' stupid !! U're different, r'nt u??	lilmiss
by the way I H8 ART!! I JUST CAN'T STAND IT!!	lilmiss
damn!!	lilmiss
im funny, intelligent and nice? hahaha! no-1s eva said im nice b4 but not every1 on heres stupid. try chattin 2 LPfan4lyf or kay_tee114. dey really cool people. and i guess i aint dat bad at skool. if i dont make it rappin i'll try and b a doctor. thanx 4 tha xtra self-esteem! what u gonna b wen u grow up n e way?	jiggyX7
I'll probably b a lawyer or a journalist. I wanted to b a scientist like CSI u know but lets say i don't want to anymore. I'd love to study psichology and law at Princeton, Hardvard, Boston or Oxford but i would need a grant.	lilmiss
Well i have lots of dreams, i'm sure they'll neva come tru. Nevermind, whut kind of movies do u use to c??	lilmiss
tha last movie i seen was Scary Movie 3. dat was sooo funny. i was beside maself laughin	jiggyX7
Scary movie 3?? Then there's about one year?? Wow !! My last movie was Siperman 2 and my next one The day after tomorrow or maybe i robot or kill bill v.2 or maybe farenheit 11/9. Who knows?? I love going to the cinema.	lilmiss
chek ur mailbox. now ma thingys workin again, we dont need 2 use dis 4um	jiggyX7
Nobody likes Lemar or i'm just dreamin'?	lilmiss
ur jus dreaming. i luv lemars musik	jiggyX7
Why does no one talk in his forums?	lilmiss
cuz no1 talk in tha 4ums i create. go 2 dizzee rascal, jamelia, beenie man, wayne wonder etc and no1 is der but me. kevin lyttle is tha onli 1 u found witout ma guidance	jiGGyx7
Let's say i knew beenie man, lemar, jamelia, wayne wonder but i didn't kno dizzle i dunno what. Mmmm i created Donell Jones forum but no one came on there, seems like nobody know him.	lilmiss
dizze rascal is like tha best british rappa eva. try downloading i luv u or jus a rascal or fix up look sharp. u would like him. i downloaded dat donell jones song u told me about a while bak. its aiight	jiGGyX7
u all lick his arse hole clean after he`s been for a shit	ppl_plz
r u always so cynical?	JiggyX7
go down?	lilmiss
go down 4 wut?	jiggyX7
no se j' ne sais pas non lo so i don't kno	lilmiss
oh? oui!	jiggyX7