''O'' is the debut studio album by American R&B singer

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the boy band B2K. The group achieved success in the e ...

, released on February 22, 2005 via

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and

Sony Urban Music Sony Urban Music was a division of Sony BMG, active from 2004 to 2006, The division handled R&B, soul, and hip hop releases by artists nominally signed to Sony's Columbia and Epic labels. During its existence, Sony Urban managed releases by ar ...

. Despite featuring explicit language, the album doesn't have a

Parental Advisory Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...

label on the cover. It features three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

, "

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

" and " I'm Tryna." The album entered at number one on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

, and has sold more than 750,000 copies in the United States as of November 2008. ''O'' went on to be

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) and was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the contemporary ...

at the 48th Grammy Awards.

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews by critics. '' Billboard'' contributor Gail Mitchell praised the collaboration between Omarion and his producers for delivering "a healthy helping of repeat-worthy songs." Jem Aswad of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' said of the record, " e ballads on this solo debut have way too much whipped cream, but there are some surprisingly tough touches of funk and crunk ("Drop That Heater," the Missy-esque "Take It Off")."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Andy Kellman said that the album works best when the tracks are "lighthearted, summery funk ("Never Gonna Let You Go (She's a Keepa)") and have production done by the Neptunes ("Touch") and Rodney Jerkins ("Drop That Heater") instead of being overly sexual, concluding that "Had Omarion been less concerned with street credibility, realizing that it might be better to allow his young fan base to mature along with him, this debut would've been more than satisfactory." Kathi Kamen Goldmark of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

also found the content overdone in its musings of sexual imagery, saying that it sounds "more jarring than seductive", concluding that " ere's a lot of potential here, if the artist can come up with some better, more subtly sexy material."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 182,000 copies in its first week of release. In its second week, the album dropped to number eight on the chart, selling an additional 77,000 copies. In its third week, the album fell to number 12 on the chart, selling 45,030 more copies. On March 31, 2005, the album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

(RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. As of April 2012, the album has sold 765,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer *"I Wish" featured background vocals by Omarion and Quintin Aney. *"O" featured background vocals by

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

and Eric Dawkins. *"I'm Tryna" featured background vocals by Tank and Dawkins. *"Drop That Heater" featured background vocals by Omarion and

Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler, known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is responsible for a series of chart-topping compositions, most notably Usher's " Yeah!" which ranks second on the ''Billboa ...

. *"Never Gonna Let You Go (She's a Keepa)" featured background vocals by Charles "Charlie" Crawford and Jamie Vick. *"I'm Gon' Change" featured background vocals by Omarion, One Chance and Pierre Medor. ;Sample credits *"Never Gonna Let You Go (She's a Keepa)" contains a replay of "Electric Frog (Part II)" as written by Richard Westfield, George Brown, Robert Bell, Ronald Bell, Claydes Smith and Robert Mickens.

Personnel

Adapted from the ''O'' media notes. * Joel Campbell – bass, keyboard * Carey Drisdom – bass * Bryan Tate – trumpet * Ryan Tate –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Percy Richard,

Omarion Grandberry Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the boy band B2K. The group achieved success in the e ...

Marques Houston Marques Barrett Houston (born August 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actor. A member of the R&B group Immature/IMx from 1990 until 2002, Houston went solo in 2003. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Roger Evans ...

, Henley Regisford Jr., Chris Stokes – executive producers *

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

Darkchild Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

, Chris Stokes,

, The Underdogs,

, Corna Boyz, AllStar, L.T. Hutton, Paul "Scooby" Smith – producers * Sean Garrett, Pierre Medor – vocal producers * Quintin Aney,

Durrell Babbs Durrell Artaze Babbs (born January 1, 1976), better known by his stage name Tank, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, producer and actor. He is known for the singles "Maybe I Deserve" (2001), "Please Don't Go (Tank song), Pl ...

, Charles "Charlie" Crawford, Eric Dawkins, One Chance, Sean Garrett, Pierre Medor – vocal assistance * David Ashton, Andrew Coleman, Brian Garten, Jaymz Hardy Martin III, Dabling Harward, Sam Lobue II, Chris 'TEK' O'Ryan, Angelo Quaglia, Dave Russell, Brian Summer, Wassim Zreik –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

s * Kevin Mahoney – assistant engineer * Kevin "KD" Davis, Jean-Marie Horvat, Dave Russell, Dexter Simmons,

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

– mixing * Justin Shtuntz, Rob Skipworth – mixing assistance * Herb Powers – mastering * Ellen To –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* Kimo Easterwood, Jonathan Mannion, Joaquin Palting – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2005 debut albums Omarion albums Epic Records albums Sony Urban Music albums Albums produced by Rodney Jerkins Albums produced by the Neptunes Albums produced by the Underdogs (production team) Albums produced by Sean Garrett Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles)