God Said No was executive produced by Teo Halm and features musician Mustafa and actor Pedro Pascal. The album title is Omar’s interpretation of “lo que sera, sera” which translates to “whatever will be, will be” or “it is what it is.” The phrase embodies the album with Omar’s tongue-in-cheek humorous outlook on the suffering that comes from surrendering and accepting whatever is thrown at you by life, a relationship or lover.

Arriving a little over two years after the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Ivory which earned Apollo a Best New Artist nominee at the 2023 Grammys, God Said No was born out of the whirlwind that followed his debut and nonstop touring, on his headline tour, in support of SZA’s SOS arena tour along with Billie Eilish’s Latin American stadium tour. Apollo booked a three-month stay in London that fall, where he ruminated on walks down rain-soaked cobblestone streets, and mined the poems of Mary Oliver, Victoria Chang, and Ocean Vuong for inspiration. Speaking on musical inspirations with Rolling Stone in the May issue, Omar cited artists like Kate Bush, Labi Siffre, Giorgio Moroder, Beyoncé, and Lana del Rey as being in heavy rotation during that time in London.

Camped out in London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios with his trusted collaborators, producers Halm, Carter Lang, and Blake Slatkin, Apollo built the bones of his melodrama. The 14-track album is a survey of the emotional wreckage that followed the end of a torrid love affair. Apollo borrowed the title from something his friend said while processing the relationship. “I gave it my everything,” Apollo says, “And God said ‘no.’” What began during that London trip resulted in his most soul-bearing and immediate body of work, fine-tuned across studios in Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami towards the end of 2023.

2022 saw Omar Apollo release his debut album Ivory which was widely celebrated for its ability to blur genre lines and language barriers. This translated to the Grammy nomination in 2023 for Best New Artist and earned Apollo commercial success, including a seven-week run on the Billboard Hot 100 for his first RIAA-certified platinum record, “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All).” Omar also enjoyed critical acclaim, landing on year-end lists from esteemed media outlets such as NPR, The FADER, Billboard, Complex, Esquire, and Rolling Stone, among others. Following the release of his debut album, he performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and unveiled his single “Killing Me“ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Additionally, Omar was named the first ambassador for skincare brand Youth to the People and was the face of LOEWE’s menswear campaign under the creative direction of Jonathan Anderson, which Apollo previewed on the cover of the latest issue of VMAN. Last month, Omar made a splash during his Met Gala debut, wearing a custom suit by LOEWE that earned him Best Dressed nods from The Cut, Vogue, and WWD, among others.

Omar Apollo God Said No June 28, 2024

Warner Records

1. Be Careful With Me
2. Spite
3. Less of You
4. Done With You
5. Plane Trees (feat. Mustafa)
6. Drifting
7. Empty
8. Life’s Unfair
9. Against Me
10. While U Can
11. Dispose of Me
12. How
13. Pedro
14. Glow

Connect with Omar Apollo:

Official Website | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube  | TikTok

God Said No

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“Less of You”

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