Throughout the years, O’Ryan has been relatively lowkey but it appears that all of that is beginning to shift. The singer, who is also Omarion’s younger brother, debuted his self-titled album in 2004 and four years later, he became a father to Namiko Love, whom he shares with singer Jhené Aiko. Lately, O’Ryan has been back in the spotlight and causing a frenzy on social media thanks to his thirst traps with his brother and their “OMG” moment of eating watermelon on stage during Omarion’s Verzuz battle with Mario last year. He’s also been speaking up more as well. Recently, he visited the Jst Us podcast and finally revealed what happened between him and Jhené but his reason for their breakup caused a divide online with some people applauding him for being honest and others calling him out for making excuses.
“We were very young. We were in a relationship like 18, 19, very young love, and when she got pregnant, for me, I had to make a decision," he says. “I never had my dad like super active in my life or any super male influence so I was afraid of kinda messing up one or the other. I can’t be like a good baby father and like a good man. I haven’t seen it, for me, in my life personally, growing up.”
So, while he was committed to being there for their child, he felt as though he couldn’t do the same as a boyfriend. “I was just like, I’ma be the best father I can be for you and I’ma be here for you. I’ma be your friend and all [of] that but I’m not gonna act like I can be with you and maybe break your heart or maybe ruin this whole thing we have going on,” he explains. “We just gonna be cool. She stayed with me the whole pregnancy, [I] cared for her, all [of] that and you can have your life. You can do whatever you want but it's like for me, I wanted to focus on, what kind of father I was gonna be.”
O’Ryan describes that moment in his life as a time of self-reflection but he also continued to support the “Sativa” artist with her blossoming singing career. He explains that as he was figuring out his next phase in life, Jhené was consistent with her music and had a lot of things moving.
“She was working really hard at her career. I was just kinda tryna figure things out for myself as well,” he says. “She had a lot more going on as far as–she had a manager, she had studios that she would go to, and stuff like that. I was just really supportive like, ‘aye whatever you need, you know what I'm saying, Nami, like go in the studio, do your thing ‘cause I don’t even know what I’m gonna do. But you got it together, get it poppin’ and it got lit.”
But no matter the discussion his comments have sparked, O’Ryan seems to have no regrets. He believes that if he didn’t make the decision to focus on being a good father versus a good boyfriend, he wouldn’t have the relationship he has with his daughter today.
While the "Take It Slow" singer only has one child, Jhené recently gave birth to a baby boy with Big Sean, making her a mother of two.
Jst Us Podcast Ep 9 | Oryan on Co Parenting , Music and Onlyfans |
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