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Dropping Raps, Not School?
There are many musically inclined students here at USC, one being Omar Gomez, otherwise known as Omar Jayden IV. Gomez is majoring in Finance, but greatly enjoys studying music in his spare time. In high school, Gomez played various instruments, but in college he only took up a few guitar classes, which wasn’t enough for him. So he explored a new field of music, which happened to be rapping. Gomez has been rapping for the past few years and has a growing audience base with help from his friends at home in San Clemente and at SC. He is greatly supported by his bros in Phi Gamma Delta. If you’ve been lucky enough, you may have heard his tracks on a Friday night at the FIJI house. Gomez began rapping sophomore year at USC. His frat brother, Nick Ergin, who lived next door to him in FIJI at the time, inspired him. Ergin, whose music career started at age seven, is a guitarist, singer and pianist. Ergin would often make beats for fun at his studio set up in the corner of his room at FIJI. Ergin and Gomez started collaborating—Ergin dropped the beats and Gomez rapped. He was able to release his first mixtape called, Inauguration Volume One last year. The mixtape includes everything he made in 2011. Gomez says, “Inauguration Volume One was the end of remixing songs and home studios. In 2012 my second mixtape will only be original beats.” Aside from being supported and inspired by Nick Ergin, Gomez says Drake, Oncue and Big Sean also inspire him. Gomez recently saw Big Sean live in Vegas and says it was one of the best shows he’d seen in a while. In fact, Gomez says people who enjoy listening to Big Sean would enjoy listening to his raps. In Gomez’s words, his raps are “low-key rap; real lyrics.” Gomez takes time writing his own rap lyrics. In his spare time he is often found scribbling down witty lines for his next rap. His old roommate, Sahar Edalati says, “I’ve really seen Omar grow. His music progressively gets better and better. He uses his raps to grow as a person and a musician. His lyrics really apply to his life.“ So where does Omar Gomez see himself down the road? Being a college student majoring in Finance, he’s unsure of what path he’ll head down in the future. Gomez says, “The music industry is crazy and life changing. Drake’s first mixtape was mediocre at best. After his second mixtape he was topping the charts. It even got him signed by Lil Wayne. This has inspired me to take my time. Fellow rapper, Logan Shippy, from San Clemente told me it’s better to take your time and put out your best work rather than just keep putting out every song. My next mixtape will be my best work possible, I promise.” Gomez says it’s hard to compete in the industry with others who devote all of their time to their music. This is especially true being that much of his time is consumed by assignments from his upper division finance courses. So while waiting for his next big release, keep your eyes out for Gomez’s music. You can check him out at http://soundcloud.com/omargomez-1 or www.hotnewhiphop.com/kingo/mixtape/1.
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