We first got a glimpse of Omarion in 2001 when he made his debut along with his chest-baring, pubescent band mates, in super group B2K. While girls craved the band, delegating each boy to the subject of their fantasies, Omarion made most swoon. His long, jet black, cornrowed hair, his sweet tunes of puppy love, and those moves — the boy always could move. But that was eight years ago, and though they reached platinum status at the height of their career, B2K eventually disband in 2004 over rumors of financial discrepancies, and (years later) accusations of sexual abuse by former manager, Chris Stokes.

Omarion weathered the storm, cozying up to success, debuting at No. 1 on the billboard with 0, 21, and Face Off (his collaborative effort with Bow Wow). And you’d think a guy practically synonymous with being No. 1 would have the secret to success, but it turns out, Omarion’s still figuring it out. Having signed with everybody’s favorite go-to-feature rapper/entrepreneur, Lil Wayne, and Young Money back in June, Omarion announced via Twitter just two months later that he parted ways with the label.

“I didn’t get dropped,” he tweeted. “I wish Wayne and all of [Young Money] good luck for their future. There are no hard feelings, business is business.”

It isn’t only business, but freedom that the now-sans-long-hair Omarion, is navigating his way through.  “It’s always been exciting and I’ve always been behind the scenes in creatively inputting on who Omarion is and who Omarion wants to be. And now that vision [has] just really, really come to light,” Omarion says.

Having finally settled down with record label EMI and a new album, Ollusion due out for release January 12 through his new imprint Starworld, maybe Omarion is finally getting back on track, but will his newfound freedom lead him back to the success he once knew?

HoneyMag: Last Thursday you announced you signed with EMI and you’ve started your own imprint, StarWorld? How’d that come about?
Omarion: Well really it was an idea and it’s kind of an artists’ dream, well for me at least, because I’ve been under the Sony umbrella for such a long time and even since back then, up until now, the game has changed so much and I’m not only meaning by record sales. I’m meaning by the position of the artists. You know artists a lot of the time almost have to play the Pinocchio or play the doll in the situation because the record company up front talks money, you know if you want to be creative and go this way, then I disagree with that. You might have a hassle getting certain things pushed through or the radio staff might not believe in certain records so you kind of have to give in certain areas in order to become famous so-to-speak. The idea really just came from me wanting to have creative control, really project who I am and represent the things I want to represent and also step into more of an entrepreneurial position of albums. It’s always been exciting and I’ve always been behind the scenes in creatively inputting on who Omarion is and who Omarion wants to be. I know most of the people want to know about the Young Money situation so I’m just going go ahead and just answer it for you. Um, a lot of people were saying “Oh well, I got dropped.” Well I want people to understand one thing about that whole situation, the idea was great. I have so much respect for Wayne and everything that they’re doing over there because of their talent you know he’s a really, really talented rapper, but I saw how he ran his ship and he’s the boss of his ship, then when I go back and think of all of the superstars in my lane so-to-speak-R&B singers or singers period, you know that their not supported by someone as a Wayne or someone that’s as famous as a Jay-Z. These are all entrepreneurs that have their own umbrella but they’re the captain of their ships and really I asked for a release because that was kind of the defining moment where I really saw how everything ran, that I needed to become that and now Starworld is about to be a new take on the industry, you know Starworld represents the stars — I’m meaning like when I used to go see award shows, like I’m not that excited anymore, you know granted there’s great performers out there, but I’m not running to the TV to go see any award show and I kind of want to bring that back. Not just with myself, but with the artists that I have. I have a female singer. I have a boys group. I have a solo male and now I just feel like it’s time for me to have my own reveal on the industry. You know I’ve been doing this since I was 14 and I’ll be 25 in November. And I’ve been given the opportunity to have a great amount of knowledge, now I can sit back and just say I know some things.

Now would you say you’re the captain of your own ship?
Pretty much.

The new artists that you’re honing. Can we expect anything from them soon?
Well, the great thing about the artists that I have is that it’s definitely going to be a building process, but the great thing is that once I get a chance to go on tour and stuff, then I’m definitely going to bring them along with me. I just want to wait ‘til that time to see who the people are feeling the most. They’re all in different lanes so I think it’s going to be a time for them all, but you know I’m not sure who I’m going to put out first, but I do know that they are entertainers when people see them, they’re going to enjoy themselves and be entertained by them.

Are they going to be R&B or Pop?
That’s kind of hard to say. We just barely started on getting in the studio with them all. They all do different types of music. I mean just the industry now there’s no technical lane. Even though I’m an R&B singer, I can do a pop record, but because I’m R&B, that automatically makes it an R&B record even though it might be sung a little poppy, but I’m not sure of their lanes, yet. It’s going to be good music. That’s what I can tell you.

I know that we talked about the situation with Young Money, but prior to that, you were signed with Timbaland’s company, Mosely, but you’ve said you asked to be released from the label as well. Was it the same situation? Were you not happy?
Well yeah, I mean the thing with Timbaland, it was a little bit different. Even with respect to Timbaland and him being a great producer, the type of access I needed to have to him, I did not have. I couldn’t pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey Timbaland. What do you think about this song?’ It was the situation where I didn’t feel like I could become the artist that I needed to become in the time that I wanted to become. And that’s the other thing that I wanted to speak to … How can Young Money drop me when Young Money didn’t help build Omarion? No one can technically drop Omarion, you know, I have to sell records for them. I have to be in the position where I make them money and then they can say they can drop me, but at this point in time, I’m still coming off of two No. 1 albums. I still have been successful. God has blessed me to be successful because of my fans and things like this, so all the negative press and things people are believing is just kind of funny to me because you got to look more in depth to it and really understand. I’m really taking this time out to not be more knowledgeable, but actually get better. My dancing, my singing ability. If you guys hear this album, I promise you won’t be let down.

That makes album three for you in your solo career through StarWorld. I’ve heard some names dropped —  Fab, Gucci Mane and Tank. But what can we expect this time around from Ollusion?
I think that on this album, I wanted to get back to classic Omarion. That’s like the first the album, O, the more sexy, the more emotion-driven records. That way when you hear it you can actually feel, because it’s something that you’ve been through. I kind of wanted to get back to that and dancing. I’m actually in rehearsals right now for “Get It In” the video. When I tell you the choreography and the feeling of it is just — I really feel like that’s missing from the industry. I mean Beyoncé is always going to give you Beyoncé and Kanye is going to give you Kanye. Now we have Lady Gaga, which she’s entertaining to see as well, but like it’s time for the R&B singers — you know Omarion — to hit the stage again. It’s time for me to come out the sky, you know what I mean? Just do the stage.

That’s cool. And I know the song was just leaked, and one of the Twitter questions is when can we expect the video for “Get It In?”
Well we’re actually shooting the video, so really, really soon. We really want to put it out. I’m actually going for adds on my record, officially at radio on October 5th I believe.

Do you have a concept for the video or is it still in the process?
Oh, no, no. The concept is done, but I can’t tell you.

Well, with your albums in the past O, 21, and Face Off all entering the Billboard at No. 1, do you feel that much more pressure with your third solo effort?
I really do feel like in reference to my album — don’t get me wrong because I would really love another No. 1  because that would be kind of a template of what could be in ten years. We could have the Omarion award. But truthfully, I’m ready to get my hustle on with the friendly competition. It’s a lot of us out there right now, especially in reference to what I do. If my first week comes out and it does well, I’m willing to put in that work that I need to prove that I’m separate from everyone and everything.

You brought up competition, so I wanted to speak on the fact that I know you were on the song, “Girl You Know” for Young Money and I know it’s now “Bedrock” and Lloyd replaced you. What do you think about that?
It’s business. I don’t take things like that personally, because truthfully Wayne was initially on “Get It In” and then Gucci was on it.

Recently you were on Khloe and Kourtney Take Miami. You were trying to let Khloe know that you were interested in her, but she didn’t take it the way you intended it. What was with that whole situation?
Well me and Khloe have been really, really great friends and I’ve been single for awhile now, probably for roughly about a year and a half. I just really felt like trying something different. It’s really hard to find someone that you’re compatible with, so to me, my initial thing that works for me is friendship. It was something that we tried. It’s hard too, because what Khloe has been through to feel like she can trust people. I was just trying to get Khloe to open up and just see herself a little bit. Khloe’s my homie and she’s happily married, now.

(Laughs)
I think she’s found that.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, we have another Twitter question. Did you leave Young Money because of Bow Wow or was it strictly a creative situation?
No. It was strictly something that I personally wanted to do.

Are you guys still cool? You, Wayne, and Bow?
Oh yeah … Well, from what I know. I’ll say that.

(Laughs) I know the success you had when you were younger and you were significantly younger. We could see it in your image, you came out with the unbuttoned shirts, and you had long hair. Now, you’re more mature. How much of an impact do you think your new image will have on your new album?
Well it’s going to have a major input on who I am and that’s one of the reasons why I cut my hair as well. I want people to know that I know you guys [have] seen me grow up. If my hair defines who I am, then who am I? I’m still Omarion in my skin when I perform, when I dance, who I am, when I sing, my voice. Now for the video, it’s going to represent [me] because I’m having creative control. I just did my album photoshoot and I was in Crenshaw in my pop’s low-low taking pictures. That’s what I remember about Cali … Sunday, everybody lined down Crenshaw showing off their cars. I’m really from LA. It’s a beautiful state and the weather’s always nice, so I’m kind of tapping into that on the album. As far as fashion, it’s definitely my streetwear mixed with the couture, so I’m definitely gonna be bussin’ some high-end pieces, droppin’ the steez real heavy and being an originator at it. I can’t wait.

And last question, you spoke a little bit about letting the fans know who you really are. What do you want them to know about who Omarion is, now?
I really want them to know that it’s okay to be who you are. That’s a really hard transition to be young in the game and just have to step into manhood and responsibility. When I was younger, I was used to having accountants and people doing things for me. I had to get mature enough to say, ‘Why am I hiring you? Why am I paying this? Why are you here? What is this style for?’ to build value around the empire that I want to build. I just want the fans to know that I love me, I love who I am. I love my make, and I would never change anything about me. There’s no amount of money that could allow me to change. I want them to be inspired. I want them to be happy about life and living and feel okay about emotions and be able o express it in a positive way. I really accepted that being in the limelight is a responsibility because I am a role model. You know I want them to be able to depend on me, and to depend on good music. I just want them to party and dance again and feel good about life.