LABEL: OM HIP HOP

Strange Fruit Project was recently listed on the top 10 most downloaded on iTunes. [Listen to mp3 clips: "You a Grown Man Now," Colossus feat. Hylton Smythe "The Healing" sampler, Strange Fruit Project "Heroes in the City of Dope" sampler, Zion I & The Grouch]

Recently, however, the label has branched out into urban music, forming a subsidiary, Om Hip-Hop, that has not only bucked the trend toward mindless, mainstream-oriented rap, but also revitalized the notion of the album in a genre typically distinguished by singles.

Most interestingly, Om has done it with some truly left-field thinking, using the label's reputation to establish little-known but supremely talented artists who have quickly become major players in the alternative hip-hop field, due to their high degree of musicality and originality. Following the 2005 release of Colossus' "West Oaktown," an album that reintroduced a jazz sensibility to hip-hop, Om recently released Strange Fruit Project's "The Healing."

The album has already garnered some of the strongest reviews in the label's history and lodged in the top 10 on the iTunes charts -- a significant accomplishment for any label, let alone an indie mainly known for four-on-the-floor anthems and ambient chill-out jams.

Although Om is mainly seen as an electronic music tastemaker, hip-hop has always been a part of the label's vision, according to Marketing Vice President Gunnar Hissim, 31, and Om Hip-Hop A&R Jonathan McDonald, 25.

CHRONICLE:LIZ HAFALIA

SOURCE: OM RECORDS
info@om-records.com