Queen Omega’s Viral ‘No Love Dubplate’ Gets Official Release Via Sony Music
Trinidadian artist Queen Omega’s No Love Dubplate, which went viral over the summer, was officially released on streaming platforms via RCA, a division of Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH / Robots & Humans Music Limited, on Friday (November 24).
The major label release underscores the massive appeal of Omega and Swiss-based Little Lion Sound’s collaboration, which was recorded over the instrumental for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s 2000 hit, The Next Episode.
The dubplate, first shared on Little Lion Sound’s YouTube page on July 16, quickly gained attention for its unique blend of reggae and hip-hop, particularly from the controversial Andrew Tate, who praised its anti-establishment message amidst his own legal and social battles.
The video has since racked up over 33 million views on YouTube.
At the same time, the ensuing buzz also enhanced the streaming success of Queen Omega’s original No Love track, which has racked up 6.5 million streams on Spotify since its release in May 2022.
Rooted in the reggae and dancehall tradition, dubplates like this one highlight the artist’s capability to transform existing compositions into something distinctly new.
“Dubplates are an art form that is especially popular in the dancehall and reggae scene, in which artists perform modified versions of existing songs in the form of mash-ups together with a sound system, for example,” a Reggaeville release noted.
“With a voice that makes the floor shake, the 42-year-old [Queen Omega] perfectly matches the vibe of the iconic West Coast rap track from 2000 thanks to Little Lion Sound – an international collabo of unmatched intensity that crosses the borders of countries and genres alike.”
Queen Omega, whose given name is Jeneile Osborne, started singing by entering local talent shows in her native Trinidad at age nine. She later sang backing vocals for local producer Kenny Philips, “accompanying many top Soca acts, both in the studio and on stage”, according to her bio on her official website.
“Raised in a musical family, she grew up listening Soul from artists like Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, along with Jazz, Calypso’s traditional music from Trinidad, but also Reggae and Dancehall, her favorite’s. She was later drawn to Rastafari and started writing lyrics with roots and reality themes,” her bio also notes.
Queen Omega has been consistently touring over the years, opening for legends such as Marcia Griffiths and Barrington Levy.
She has performed on numerous Reggae festivals, among them the Reggae Rising, JaSound and the African Music Festival.
Little Lion describes themselves as being a Reggae and Dancehall Sound since 2004, which was born from the love of Reggae, and “founded in Geneva, Switzerland by Nicolas Meury in 2004 (then later joined by Jannali Littman in 2016)”.
According to their bio on their YouTube channel, the sound system follows “the Jamaican tradition, navigating between Reggae, Dancehall and Afrobeat” and has “made their eclectic selecting their trademark”.
It has also noted that in 2010, Little Lion established their studio in Geneva, recording dubplates with international artists such as Ranking Joe, Wayne Smith, Al Campbell and Brother Culture and later formed their own record label, Evidence Music in 2013 in collaboration with Derrick Sound.
“With more than 1000 shows across the world, from New York to Australia, Little Lion Sound is revered as one of the leading sound systems on the European Reggae scene,” it noted.