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Nadir Omowale

A Little Too Quiet: Nadir Omowale on the Ferndale Public Library Podcast

An AMAZING public library! That’s just one of the perks my family enjoys living here in Ferndale, Michigan, right across the street from Detroit. They are a forward thinking bunch over there on 9 Mile Road. Forward thinking enough to have funk music in the courtyard in the summer, and forward thinking enough to have a podcast! This was a fun and informative conversation. Check it out!

We’re chatting with singer/songwriter/producer Nadir Omowale, an award-winning musician and the leader of a formidable funk-rock ensemble. Nadir Omowale gave a memorable performance at one of our Summer Concert Series showcases, and it was with his advice and encouragement that we wound up substantially enhancing our gear game at the library, particularly when it comes to sound systems for live events. We spoke with Omowale about his love of music, but especially about the influence of not only icons like Prince, but his mother, who was a dedicated volunteer to community causes, including serving on her local library board.

LISTEN HERE:

The Art of Deliberate Creation: “Use Me Up” by JusBam featuring Nadir Omowale Now Available on All Platforms

You have the power to create the life that YOU want to live. You know this, right? Students of the Law of Attraction call this, the Law of Deliberate Creation. It essentially means you get what you focus on, whether you want it or not, so it’s best to focus on the positive changes and developments that you want to create in your life. Seek and ye shall find. Ask and ye shall receive. Knock, and doors will be opened unto you.

Nashville emcee JusBam (Kyna Ealy) had a vision to create a project that could be a blueprint for anyone who wants to create the life of their dreams. She came to Detroit in 2019, and enlisted Nadir Omowale to help her bring her vision to light. Nadir worked on the track, an updated version of the Bill Withers classic “Use Me”. Nadir sang and plays most of the instruments here, along with Windsor/Detroit phenomenon Phil Whitfield, who injects some tasty organ, and Rashida Johnson and Ben Will who add spirit-filled gospel vocal flourishes.

In the end, JusBam manifested a funky track that provides a blueprint for you to attract and create all that you desire for yourself. Bam says, follow the steps she outlines here, just like she did – AND DOES – in all aspects of life, and you to can create the life you want to live for yourself. Bam just dropped the EP called Workin’ Contradiction, which she bills as “a preview of her next” full-length album project, and her dream is manifest right before your very eyes.

Listen to the track above, and purchase it from your favorite online retailer immediately, for a reminder on how to make the Law of Deliberation can work in your life.

Too Much Life To Be Lived – Jane Asher’s Interview with Nadir Omowale on The Next Room

On The Next Room, Jane Asher takes you on a soulful journey to explore and embrace the bigger picture surrounding life on earth…and what follows. She speaks with authors, friends, transition specialists and other experts about death, dying, grieving, beliefs and cultural traditions surrounding this journey we all must ultimately take. So, what is next, after life on this plane?

Jane has Nadir Omowale on the Next Room to talk about the legacy we leave behind. How do we honor our loved ones principles once they transition? How do we uphold their memory at the same time do justice to the lessons they taught us? These topics and more with a man that doesn’t have time to stand still while we explore the Next Room!

Part 1: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN:
Part 2: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN 

The Year of Living Stevie: Nadir Omowale and his Band Discuss and Perform The Music of Stevie Wonder

The Year of Living Stevie” is host Daryl Bean’s biweekly podcast about life, creativity, and the music of Stevie Wonder. In each episode, musicians explore Stevie’s influence, and the affect his music has had on them.

In this episode, musician/vocalist/songwriter/producer Nadir Omowale and his band (Steve Caldwell, guitar; Phil Whitfield, keyboards; Chris Spooner, bass; Lauren Johnson, drums) talk about political activism through music, their deep well of experience in the industry, and what made Nadir want to throw his bass at a drummer (not Lauren). Plus they perform two deep Stevie tracks, “That Girl”, from Original Musiquarium, and “Let’s Get Serious” (a hit for Jermaine Jackson, but written and produced by Stevie).

Click HERE to Listen.

How Cool Is That Video and Free Download

Purged, a multi-faceted multimedia exhibit, is all about the art of metamorphosis. Detroit artist Nancy J. Rodwan requested that people she knows give her items they’d been meaning to dispose of but for some reason had stored away in their closets, attics, basements, or garages. Everyone she asked enthusiastically offered her a variety of things ranging from old electronics and clothing to books and kitchen utensils – all of which she completely transformed into art.

Examples of the paintings, sculptures, assemblages, collages, and fiber art Rodwan created from cast-off detritus include: A bold doll-like figure called “The Deity of Funk Stitched Together from Jive Ass Slippers” made from the leather baby shoes donated by musician Nadir Omowale; A majestic horse head-shaped wooden sculpture called “Gizo’s Great Horse” carved from a piece of molding from an old Detroit building given to her by Olyami Dabls, the artist and founder of Dabls African Bead Museum; A sculpture suggesting a robotic hand crafted from pieces of a typewriter salvaged frthe former headquarters of the Detroit Free Press by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and talk show host Stephen Henderson.

“How Cool is That” was inspired by a pair of Wonder Woman dolls donated by Detroit radio legend Ann Delisi. Nancy Rodwan explains:

“I am a big fan of Ann Delisi’s show Essential Music on Detroit’s WDET and listen to it in my studio regularly. The deep thought, research and pure fun she puts into her program inspires me. Ann can often be heard saying – how cool is that? – when something strikes her fancy. It makes me smile every time she says it. I wanted to create something fun with the dolls. I asked Nadir Omowale to write a funky love song titled “How Cool Is That?” and I created a stop-motion film featuring the lovebird dolls.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Fight Against Income Inequality

Although our family celebrates African and African American history and culture (also known as “history and culture”) 365 days a year, I believe that African American History Month should officially begin on January 15, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

It’s clear that Dr. King’s crusade for equality and justice for all human beings is not over. If anything, the 45th presidential administration represents a backlash against the gains obtained as a result of the civil rights and black power movements.

And as much as King championed civil and human rights for African Americans, he also fought to end poverty and income inequality for everyone. The video above includes excerpts from speeches that demonstrate his activism far beyond the dream of racial equality. With the GOP set to execute another reverse Robin Hood heist from the middle and working classes to fuel the filthy rich with tax cuts, King’s voice belongs front and center in contemporary conversations. We need to hear quite a bit from him in the weeks to come.

Music Producer and Creative Strategist Nadir Omowale

Nadir Omowale has established a burgeoning career centered upon his limitless creative energy, fine technical knowledge and unique musical vision.

As a music producer and engineer, Nadir has recorded, mixed and produced an array of projects in a variety of musical genres. As a creative strategist, Nadir contributes as project architect, challenge solver and Jedi Master.

He helps recording artists, media companies, entrepreneurs and brands advance their myriad projects by charting practical pathways and developing thoughtful solutions that accomplish the most critical creative and business objectives. Nadir is also an experienced coach and mentor to songwriters and vocalists. Depending on the needs of the project, he can function as marketing coordinator, indie label administrator; media project manager, editor, copywriter, or consultant.

Ultimately, Nadir’s deep passion for storytelling in every medium, his dexterity within the creative process, and his diverse skill set all combine to bridge the gap between creative work, business action and brand direction.

Connect with Nadir to discuss how he can help move your project forward.

The Music of Nadir Omowale

Nadir Omowale doesn’t have time to stand still.  There is far too much life to be lived.

The fifteen-time Detroit Music Award winner and former MTV News correspondent is driven by an impassioned activism. All of his hats – performer, producer, creative strategist – are worn by a man who explores as he produces, teaches as he advises, and creates art that honors the fact that life is filled with extremes and in-betweens. The result is infectious, a creative electricity that is essential to who Nadir is.

Nadir will tell you that life is too important, not to be an activist. His impressions about life are the essence of his work. His lyrics can tug at heartstrings, tickle funny bones, or evoke an honest look at the world around us, and (possibly more importantly) the world within us.

His music is influenced by funk, but don’t call Nadir a funk revivalist. His understanding of rock, R&B, hip hop, and jazz takes funk to a most Nadir-centric next step; a Southern born, and Detroit raised sound that doesn’t fit in traditional boxes. His music reaches across genres and political aisles – sometimes with a gentle, outstretched hand, and occasionally with a clenched fist  – always challenging listeners with a funk inspired, Motor City sound that is as relevant today, as Holland-Dozier-Holland were in the sixties.

Jane Asher of Radio Sophie 103.7FM in San Diego writes of Nadir:

“If Motown had never moved to L.A.,
this is what it would sound like today.”

His live show is dynamic. Nadir works a stage comfortably, engaging with audiences, guiding them on an energetic, emotional experience. There will be time for laughter, and love, amid irresistible outbursts of dance, and the occasional plea to understand the challenges that we still face in our attempts to insure freedom for all.

When Nadir Omowale performs, you get more than music. You get all of the man, his humor, his passion, and the depth of a personality that embraces his responsibility to make this a better world, because of his love of life.

“To label Nadir as a neo-soul artist would be neglecting his rock roots; to call him a rock artist would be overlooking his hip-hop and jazz influences. Fully encompassing all the talents that Nadir possesses would be comparable to expanding the mathematical term Pi to its last digit.” 
The Michigan Chronicle, Detroit, Michigan

“It’s STONE COLD FUNK,
It makes you DANCE, it ROCKS your world,
It’s got GREAT LYRICS,
It’s got POWERHOUSE SOUL SINGING,
It’s got GREAT MUSICIANSHIP,
It makes you THINK about the world and it makes you SMILE.”
Bob Davis, Soul-Patrol.com

 “As usual your performances NEVER disappoint.
Sometimes I felt like I was seeing Sly and the Family Stone again.
Great show!”
Terri Koggenhopp – Executive Director, Detroit Music Awards and
Director of Artist Relations, Detroit International Jazz Festival

© Nadir Omowale