Rolling Stone‘s Annie Licata, in her review of Jamaican born Omi’s latest project, Me 4 U, had this to say: “Cheerleader” was a years-old song that soared to Number One after German producer Felix Jaehn remixed it. The rest of the songs here show an artist who isn’t quite ready for primetime.”

She went on to describe Standing On All Threes, a song that hit locally before Cheerleader made its international breakthrough, as “…a woeful, surface-deep guitar jam.”

Brrrr…

But was it really that bad? We don’t think so.

Maybe it’s because we knew Omi before he blew up on the remixed, tempo-boosted version of Cheerleader internationally. We know that’s not his original style.

Most of the tracks on the LP, in fact, are songs that were previously released, now nicely packaged for export to his newfound international fans.

Throughout the LP, Omi stayed true to his tropical roots, with heavier, more colourful instruments being used than one would find in straight pop songs. Tracks like Color of my Lips with Busy Signal, and Fireworks are testaments to this.

Admittedly though, some tracks, like Drop in the Ocean with AronChupa and Promised Land, did get a little too basic with the beat, causing critics to liken the sound to nursery rhymes, despite Omi’s best efforts and amazing vocals.

Having realized the success of the sound that brought him fame, it was smart of Omi to feature a few remixes on the LP.  Omi rose to the challenge in the first go of Hula Hoop, a brand new track on the list, which seems like his attempt at repeating the Cheerleader Remix vibe. And he pulled it off quite nicely.

Rolling Stone gave the playlist a 2 of 5 rating, perhaps because they do not appreciate, nor are they interested in, his real sound. The tracks on Me 4 U are somewhat symbolic of Omi reintroducing himself to his fans for who he really is, while promising that he can continue to supply what they came to love.