What have we done to deserve Omah Lay?
Stanley Omah Didia popularly known as Omah Lay is a singer, songwriter, and record producer, he began his journey as a producer and songwriter in Port Harcourt, he believed he deserved more credit than he was currently getting while helping others create hits, he went forward to record and release ‘Do not Disturb’ and ‘Hello Brother’ in his hometown Port Harcourt which earned him a record deal with KeyQaad the Record Label.
Omah Lay’s sound first graced my ears during the peak of the COVID-19 Lockdown, the track is Bad Influence and I am hooked, constant WhatsApp status reposts of the single by my contacts reaffirm my opinion. With Bad Influence Marine Base prodigy, one of Port-Harcourt’s finest strings my sorrow into a melody and gives me a track to call home, the soft drums and his voice caress the track like it is a fragile thing, a lullaby for aching hearts, Omah Lay reminds me of how love is that giant bag of everything into which I may disappear and be lost without a trace.
To summarize the language of loss into five words “You don burst my eyeglass” is nothing short of peak pidgin poetry at its finest. The Get Layd EP would go on to rock the charts for months. Not too many months after Omah Lay would drop a second EP, “What have we done” a five-track body of bliss.
The body of work begins with My Bebe, the two minutes forty-three-second track puts the listener in a trance, I am seated on my bed alone and yet I am with my lover in a club downtown watching the strobe lights bounce off her skin as I whisper sweet nothings in her ear, Omah Lay personifies desire effortlessly, with a certain finesse that is nothing short of divine.
“I Gaga
Oh no Father
Hold my Dada
Give me Ganja
Tell your sister
wey get backside
Give me now now
I no fit calm down
Give me water
Give me Fanta
I no wan hear say water Bam Bam
If you give me your German juice o
I get things o to use dilute am ooooo”
The track peaks with these lyrics, Omah Lay understands the ferocity of desire and how it can set a body beneath water ablaze with need, words have often failed me at points of intense need, Omah Lay puts the words that I have lacked the bravery to speak in my mouth and at once I am the boyfriend in my crush’s wet dream, brave, effortless and worthy.
The next track “Can’t Relate” details Omah Lay’s journey so far, the acquisitions of fame and money, the loneliness of success, and the emptiness that comes with greatness, Omah Lay reaffirms that money and fame although beneficial and useful do not relieve all burdens, “Nobody understands how I feel” is a clear signal of the void that comes with a superstar lifestyle, the need to purge individuals with negative intentions from his circle, the divide between true friends and parasites.
A beautifully fast-paced lifestyle, yet blemished with paranoia and loneliness, In my struggles I have battled with filling this void, so I connect with the track instantly, he addresses the dark side to success which is often overlooked when counting blessings, fulfillment, and happiness are never promised even when the bottom line is green, what do you do when you conquer the world and it does not fill your soul?
The Godly track then goes on to solidify the curatorial precision of the EP, as Can’t Relate details Omah Lay’s struggles, Godly gives the listener a peek into how God comforts Omah Lay, in passing this message Omah Lay clinically layers vocals to back up his lyrics.
“Make I play you my cassette o
Anything you sell is a market o
Try to Dey look from my aspect o
You Dey loud am I Dey handset oh
Me I no fit drag shine
Oluwa na him be my Kanji Dam
Me I no Dey try to reconnect the light
I just want to make Charlie Boy Dey, make Charlie Boy dey.”
Beyond the tidbits of wisdom Omah Lay drops on the Godly track, he also attributes his talent and success to God “Oluwa na he be my Kanji Dam” the burden of talent and genius is often difficult to carry entirely on one’s merit, Omah Lay delegates his greatness in style, Ghetto Gospel with a certain bop to it.
On the fourth track “Confession” Omah Lay begins his story as a single man, the plan is to remain single and avoid emotional involvement, “The plan na to chop lock-up” however love happens as a danfo happens to tar and sprouts its roots,
“Maggot don begin turn python ah ah,
The way she Dey treat my Fuck up
I no wan see Doctor”.
The track then goes forward to reference Port Harcourt city as Omah rarely turns down an opportunity to remind us where he came from, “I Dey wait for you for Artilerry make you come show me the mathematics” he sets the listener on a journey through Port Harcourt City as love turns every landmark and bus stop to a love bite, hickeys which disappear but leave a phantom scar.
The final track on the EP, the Damn Remix featuring 6lack is a masterclass that leveled the expectations created by the original track, Omah Lay’s vocals backed up by 6lack delivers the desired effect of head bopping and lip-syncing, for a man who does not have boys who do wrongs, Omah Lay leaves me on the track with the desire to be a bad boy once a week, the embodiment of that energy gifts listeners like me an escape from all the prim and proper things of an average life.
Omah Lay’s journey to success has been an accumulation of hard work, talent, and opportunity, from rapping on the streets of Marine Base Port-Harcourt under the name of Lil King to recording a song with 6lack, the career trajectory is almost unbelievable.
As a man struggling with many things, from the pressure to succeed to loneliness, finding and losing love, there is an Omah Lay song for every dilemma, where he strings my joy or sorrow into a song where I can curl up and heal or tell my lover to meet me at Trans Amadi, his embodiment and portrayal of human emotion has earned him a place on the charts for the nearest possible future.
With his rapidly growing discography of classics and bangers, in a fairly short career which has only begun, what do you believe we did to deserve Omah Lay?