Lemar: 'I'm part of musical history'

Lemar has claimed that he influenced a lot of today's pop music.

The singer explained that his singles seem to have a similar sound to newer tracks.

In an interview with the Daily Record, he said: "I do feel, while listening to my songs as I've put together The Hits album, that I've influenced the sound that you hear in the charts at the moment. 'Dance (With You)' had a synth sound, a Michael Jackson feel, over light chords which was used last year quite a lot.

"When I was in the studio with JLS I did look at them and think it was weird the way the musical food chain works. I was influenced by Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and Al Green then did my thing with it.

"After you've done it for a certain amount of time you influence other people and inadvertently become a part of musical history."

Lemar added that he noticed a similar effect when he released 'If There's Any Justice'.

"When I started out I wanted to push boundaries and do something against the grain," he said. "I was very nervous about putting out 'Any Justice'. At the time it wasn't what was being played on mainstream radio.

"It was a gamble and luckily the radio got behind it and created a bit of a wave and it was successful for me. A couple of years later, Amy [Winehouse], Duffy and Adele started using the same sound."

Lemar explained that he feels he has had a particular impact on JLS, who have previously said that he is "like a big brother" to them.

"It's nice to know you've somehow influenced another artist and they admit they look up to what I've achieved, especially as they've already done so well themselves," he said.

> Click here to watch the video for Lemar's latest single 'The Way Love Goes'