The latest variant of the COVID-19 virus was dubbed Omicron by the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 26, after the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet and/or the Japan-formed prog-metal band. Since it's a meme-eat-meme world out there, Twitter has decided to refer to it as the Omarion variant instead — after the former early-aughts B2K boyband leader and R&B solo artist.
Aside from rolling off the tongue a whole lot better than Omicron, the name Omarion probably rings at least somewhat familiar. From his 2005 debut solo LP O — featuring the single "Touch" — onwards, the artist has put out a bevy of material over the years, including 2007's Face Off with rapper Bow Wow. And who could forget 2014's straight-to-the-point Sex Playlist, with Jhene Aiko's verse on lead single "Post to Be" potentially originating the phrase "Eat the booty like groceries"?
Omarion's cultural impact continues to, well, spread. The posts emerged out of the ever-innovative Black Twitter community, noting the similarities between the name of the mutated virus and the singer, and have since caught on widely; some people are just straight-up calling it the Omarion variant now, and we honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
Omarion even responded to the trend, tweeting: "There is nothing more healing than music or a good laugh. I'm thankful to be able to give people both...From [sic] the omarion [sic] dance challenge to being superimposed on the new variant. The internet is forever undefeated. While we laugh, stay safe and stay healthy."
Aside from rolling off the tongue a whole lot better than Omicron, the name Omarion probably rings at least somewhat familiar. From his 2005 debut solo LP O — featuring the single "Touch" — onwards, the artist has put out a bevy of material over the years, including 2007's Face Off with rapper Bow Wow. And who could forget 2014's straight-to-the-point Sex Playlist, with Jhene Aiko's verse on lead single "Post to Be" potentially originating the phrase "Eat the booty like groceries"?
Omarion's cultural impact continues to, well, spread. The posts emerged out of the ever-innovative Black Twitter community, noting the similarities between the name of the mutated virus and the singer, and have since caught on widely; some people are just straight-up calling it the Omarion variant now, and we honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
Omarion even responded to the trend, tweeting: "There is nothing more healing than music or a good laugh. I'm thankful to be able to give people both...From [sic] the omarion [sic] dance challenge to being superimposed on the new variant. The internet is forever undefeated. While we laugh, stay safe and stay healthy."