Omah Lay

×

Expand

The Nigerian Omah Lay is one of the icons of the new African Afrobeats. Lay (real name Stanley Omah Dida and born in Port Hartcourt) is, without a doubt, one of the best and most promising emerging artists of the last two years. His is one of ten names on the “BBC 1xtra Hot for 2021” list. This does not come about by chance, since Nigerian pop suggests that it will be the next big thing in contemporary global music, and Lay is already there, on the front line.

His recording debut was eagerly awaited. That is why in May 2020, with his debut EP Get Layd, the reception by specialized critics endorsed everything exposed here: it reached number one on Apple Music Nigeria and Lay was also the first artist to appear on Apple Music's New Africa Rising Project. In November 2020 came the confirmation of his tsunami with his second EP, What Have We Done, which marked his debut with the multinational Warner: "After exceeding more than one hundred million streams with his debut, Lay continues his success with another EP which is another classic project,” —Novice2star, while on BET he was named Artist of the Month.

He writes the lyrics, composes the music and produces most of his recordings, so it's safe to say he already owns his sound. Namely: an Afro-fusion that combines the creativity of Fireboy DML with personality, that musical calligraphy, with the vibration of WizKid. One of his latest releases is the single "Understand," from July 2021, already with more than 33 million views on YouTube.

For more music events check our online events calendar.