TEAM RNS PRESENTS

RIPPER: Team RNS

0hr 50min total- 73.0mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-00-00
RIP DATE: 2003-10-24

08 What About Love?               3:39

10 Let's Stay Together            3:47

12 Alright With Our Love          4:22

14 All I Ever Do (My Boo)         3:22

Less than a year ago, Lemar Obikas
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 singers 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

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

"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

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 - Lets Stay Together and duet
with Lionel Ritchie on Easy Like A Sunday
Morning would become highlights of the
programmes 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 shows 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 didnt want to be
ridiculed or forced to sing pop. In
the advert they said you could sing
your own genre of music and thats 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

Certainly those viewing were struck by
the authenticity of Lemars talents and
his lack of affectation. Amongst the
millions captivated by Lemars
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

"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
hadnt 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, everybodys been
great. I was just walking down the street
now and this young guy came up to me and
was like, Yo, Lemar, youe large.

Its this mixture of street credibility and
mainstream appeal, together with Lemars
outstanding vocal abilities, which have
seen the cream of the UKs 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 amassing more that twenty seven
songs in little over a month.

Lemars first single is set to be Dance
(With You)- released August 11th. 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 album
I want to pull in the street side and
make sure theres enough there for them,
because thats where I from, but I also
dont want to lose the audience that I
built up on TV. So, its basically going
to be soulful R&B, that will be the base,
and when I do mainstream it will be
tasteful and in keeping with that.

With his days at Nat West less than a
year behind him, whatever happens, Lemar
says he will be keeping his feet firmly

I just want to take things one step at a
time. The only thing I can do is to do
what I feel is best and take whatever
hail stones come my way, he says.