Artiste to perform on popular US talk shows

CURTIS CAMPBELL, STAR Writer

Jamaican artiste OMI is certainly not short of cheerleaders now. Signed to Ultra Music in 2013, the singer has been reaping success after success with the Felix Jaehn remix of his song 'Cheerleader' already selling platinum in the United States last week.

Now, adding to that success, the Clarendon-born entertainer's song yesterday stormed to the top of the Billboard charts in the United States, finally replacing Wiz Khalifa's See You Again which held the No.1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100chart for 12 weeks.

The singer, who is currently on a 12-day promotional tour in the US, told THE STAR that he is excited to be holding the number one spot.

"It's every artiste's dream. I couldn't ask for more, I have the best team, the best fans and I love you all very much. Fan of my fans," he said.

The singer will today appear on the popular Good MorningAmerica show on ABC at 7 a.m., while for NBC he will be performing on the Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon at 10:30 p.m.

The artiste says audiences for both shows should expect a fun performance. "I am just expecting to share this moment with everyone," he said.

OMI's United States tour will see him making appearances in places like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Tampa, having already enjoyed success throughout Europe.

Shortly after entering the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the magazine had predicted OMI's chart peaking fate.

"Looking ahead,Cheerleader has the markings of a challenger for number one on the Hot 100. With Bad Blood still gaining in airplay, it has a chance to reclaim the top spot from See You Again. But the momentum of Cheerleader, which gains in all three Hot 100 metrics (sales, airplay and streaming), and is up by 13 per cent in overall chart points, makes it perhaps a stronger contender for a potential coronation," Billboard.com posted.

Cheerleader was released over three years ago as a ska record, a genre rarely practised by the youth in Jamaican music. OMI also released a follow-up single called Fireworks in 2013, for this effort he dabbled with mento, another genre rarely practised by the new generation of Jamaican artistes.

It would appear that OMI's signature sound denotes an eclectic mix of vintage Jamaican genres merged with modernised instrumentation and is a part of the artiste's allure as a musician.

Cheerleader joins an elite club of reggae hits that have crossed over to the Hot 100's top spot. Notable others include Johnny Nash's I Can See Clearly Now that stayed at No. 1 four weeks in 1972, Eric Clapton's I Shot the Sheriffthat spent one week in 1974 and was written by Bob Marley, UB40's Red Red Wine spent one week at the top in 1988, as well as their effort Can't Help Falling in Lovewhich was No.1 for seven weeks in 1993, Ini Kamoze's Here Comes the Hotstepper which spent two weeks at number one in 1994, Shaggy's It Wasn't Me which spent two weeks at number one, as well as his follow-up single Angel which spent one week both in 2001, Sean Paul'sGet Busywhich spent three weeks in 2003, Sean Kingston's Beautiful Girls which spent four weeks in 2007 and RudeBy MAGIC which spent six weeks in 2014.