About eight years ago, Jamaican singer Omar Pasley woke up with a melody in his head that he couldn’t shake. It was the beginning of “Cheerleader,” which has since become one of the more unlikely – and slowest-rising – Number One pop hits ever. “Cheerleader” started as a radio favorite in Jamaica in 2012, became a hit all over Europe in 2014, and finally topped the Hot 100 in mid-July. “Man,” says Pasley, “it’s overwhelming.”
Pasley, 28, grew up loving rappers like Tupac and Eminem, but things changed in his early twenties. “I got exposed to melodic aspects of music when I started listening to John Legend, Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke,” he says. His life changed forever when he met with Jamaican producer Clifton Dillon, who fell in…
