Stanley Omah Didia, popularly known as Omah Lay, holds many Nigerians in thrall with his soulful tunes and clear vocals, and they don’t mind at all.
Born on May 19, 1997, in Ikwerre in Rivers State, a young Omah Lay grew up in Port Harcourt. After attending Comprehensive High School, he studied at the University of Port Harcourt. Omah Lay’s musical inclinations are no surprise as his family has deep musical roots. His grandfather, Adalolo, was a percussionist for Igbo highlife musician, Celeste Ukwu and his father was a drummer.
Omah Lay’s music journey began on the streets of Marine Base, Port Harcourt, where he was a member of a rap group with the stage name Lil King. At age 16, he moved on to songwriting and music producing for several artistes. However, the lack of acknowledgement from these artistes led him to start making music for himself. The result? An experimental, self-produced single in April 2019 titled ‘Do Not Disturb’. A month after releasing Do Not Disturb, Omah Lay released ‘Hello Brother’.
In June 2019, he signed a record deal with KeyQaad, which took him out of Port Harcourt and into Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. Then Omah Lay rested. But the self-imposed hiatus was well worth it because, on his return to the music scene in January 2020, he released ‘Bad Influence’, the song that changed the trajectory of his career.
He followed up with ‘You’ in February 2020, catching the attention of many. With the success of these two tracks smoothening the way, Omah Lay made a massive impact on the music scene in May 2020 with his five-track EP ‘Get Layd’. The EP topped the Apple Music Album charts for months while his single ‘Bad Influence’ sat comfortably at the top of several charts. Not one to let the buzz slow down, Omah Lay followed up with his second EP, ‘What Have We Done’ in November 2020.
Omah Lay’s ‘What Have We Done’ EP is his first on Warner Music Group since he signed with them in September 2020. The EP quickly went to the top of music charts, with all five tracks reaching the top 12 songs on Apple Music Nigeria. The track, ‘Godly’, stayed at number 1 for several weeks. His second EP only served to drive home the point that Omah Lay is the next big thing in pop music. His music was also a source of comfort for many Nigerians as they weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and the enforced lockdown. The 24-year-old artiste was named ‘BET Amplified International Artiste of The Month’ in November 2020.
Things took a shocking turn for the artiste on December 13, 2020, when he was arrested in Uganda, alongside singer Tems, for flouting COVID-19 rules while performing at a concert. It was a harrowing experience for Omah Lay, who had embarked on his first international trip. Both artistes were released two days later, but as a blessing in disguise, the experience only helped bolster Omah Lay’s rising fame. People who didn’t know him before the news of that event, which trended on Twitter worldwide, sought his music.
He’s worked with the biggest acts in the Nigerian industry, including Wizkid, Olamide, Adekunle Gold and DJ Kaywise, and American artiste 6lack. During his first Headies outing in 2021, he bagged the Next Rated award.
At the 2021 NET Honours People’s Choice Awards, Omah Lay took home Most Played Song – Pop for his smash hit ‘Godly’. Well deserving, as ‘Godly’ has over 50 million streams across multiple streaming platforms, and the official video on YouTube has over 31 million views. The song won in a tight category with other mega-hits by Nigerian artistes. Duduke by Simi, FEM by Davido, The Best by Davido featuring Mayourkun and Woman by Rema were also contenders for this award.
Omah Lay is not slowing down anytime soon. With him hinting at working on his debut album, Nigerians are waiting with bated breath for new music. If we can go by his unblemished record of ‘no bad songs’, we can trust that we are in for auditory pleasure.
Written by Dara Oluwatoye