POST TO BE

‘I Am an Artist, Not a Variant’: Singer Omarion Joins in on Omicron Jokes

Videos and memes playfully comparing the rapper’s name with the coronavirus variant have been making the rounds on TikTok and Instagram.

As Omicron rages across the United States, social media users have playfully seized on the similarity between the coronavirus variant and R&B artist Omarion’s name. On Saturday, the artist finally chimed in on the jokes in a series of TikTok videos. “Hi, this is Omarion. I am an artist, not a variant. So please be aware that if you just so happen to run into me on the street, you don’t have to isolate for five days,” he joked in the first of three videos. The artist is known for the song “Post to Be” with Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko, which has been referenced in many of the Omicron-Omarion memes. “While it’s important not to touch me and keep your distance, cause you know that’s how it’s supposed to be, you don’t need a negative test to dance to my music,” he wrote.