Omalie, a.k.a Alie Durand, was born on February 20, 1982 in the parish of St. David of Castle Bruce, Dominica to Albert Durand and Louisa Durand. Albert was a farmer during the day and a security guard at night, working just so he could provide for his family. Just before Alie was born, his father moved to the lower area of the village close to the beach where he did spear fishing to help sustain the family.

Growing up, Alie had the opportunity to learn to play drums at a very early age because his cousins had a drum set. He acquired the love and passion to sing because his mother’s family was very talented with a varied musical background. Although Omalie learned to play the drums, he later formed a greater passion for singing and performing at just the young age of ten.

In 1998, after working with a secular group called “Stone Face Crew” for a few years, Omalie gave his life to Christ at a youth camp in the village of Castle Bruce and he became a born again Christian and was baptized that same year. Although his lifestyle and lyrics changed, Omalie brought the same dancehall/reggae sounds with him to the church. Event though he treated everyone with love and he sang with the full passion of his newly found faith, a controversy still arose among the churches and those believers who thought reggae and dancehall music had its own place outside the church. Despite the obstacles he had to face, Omalie kept pushing to create more gospel hits that older, more conventional folks could relate to and enjoy. In 1999, the Genesis Ministry Inc, a radical Gospel Movement, was formed, which interested numerous young men and women from that village and other villages around Dominica.

In 2000, Omalie was featured on his first single with an artist called Abel. The first track to hit the air waves, “No Opposite,” was applauded by fans but only did well locally in Dominica. Rather than allowing this to discourage him, Omalie continued to pursue a career in music and reconstructed the band “Genesis” with some new members “Genesis” blew up the whole of Dominica , and it gave artists like Sernel, Kishon, and Dwight the chance to showcase their talents. Omalie acted as front man for the group and wrote much of the material being used today on his first major project.

The band had never released an album or a track because they were still in high school and couldn’t afford the production costs, but they played in many, many concerts and stage shows around the island.

In 2005, Omalie went to Anguilla , a 34 square mile island near St. Marten, and decided to work there in order to finance his musical dreams. In 2006 he met one of Dominica’s best producers, Cornell Phillip, who is notorious for his Zouk and Bouyoun impact on the islands. Omalie, whose music is of a very different genre, impressed the producer, who immediately selected him for his new artist. He moved back to Anguilla since that was where he had started his new life, but music kept calling. Omalie returned to Dominica two years later to bring his dream to reality at Imperial Publishing (Cornell Studio.)

Currently, Omalie is closing up the pages on his debut album, thankful to the fans who have waited so long. As a messenger of the Gospel and street disciple, Omalie is working with READYBACK RECORDS label and creating more Gospel Reggae music. He is working on every single step, learning and improving – not only to make his mom proud, but also to bring more original music to his fans; and above all, to bring glory to God, his Maker.

Omalie’s words are simply: more God, more love, more life, more music. Get ready for “Cross Chronicles.” And more music from ReadyBack artists movement Omalie generation.

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