Omah Lay

Omah Stanley Didia (born 19 May 1997), professionally known as Omah Lay, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. The album received critical acclaim. He is the CEO of his new music company called Boy Alone; it was revealed by his manager in an interview with OkayAfrica.

Early life Omah Lay was born 19 May 1997 He attended Comprehensive High School in Port Harcourt before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt. Lay comes from a musical family. His grandfather played instruments for the singer Celestine Ukwu before he died in 1977 and his father played the drums.

Career Early career: Get Layd and What Have We Done

Omah Lay began his career in a rap group where he went by the stage name Lil Street King. At 16, he moved on to songwriting and producing for several artists. He went solo in 2019 with the release of "Do Not Disturb" and "Hello Brother". The same year, he signed to the record label named KeyQaad and began working on Get Layd, his debut EP. In an interview with OkayAfrica, Omah Lay stated, "I started working on it August [of 2019]. At some point I had to go off social media, stay away from a lot of things and keep my head straight to get the project right."

In 2020, Omah Lay released the singles "Bad Influence" and "You," two songs from Get Layd. "Bad Influence" became the most streamed Nigerian song on Apple Music at the end of 2020. The Get Layd EP peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music charts. The same year he also appeared on the song "Infinity" on Olamide's album Carpe Diem, which topped the Apple Music charts in Nigeria.

On 3 July 2020, Omah Lay was the first artist highlighted for Apple's Africa Rising Campaign to spotlight African talent. On December 2020, he was included in BBC Radio 1Xtra's annual "Hot for 2021" list. He was the first African artist featured on Audiomack's #Up Now program for emerging artists; was included in Montreux Jazz Festival's "20 artists to watch in 2021"; and was named BET's Amplified International Artist of the Month for November 2020. He was nominated in four categories at the 2020 Headies Awards, winning the Next Rated award. On 20 November 2020, Omah Lay released his second five-track EP, What Have We Done. All five tracks reached the top 12 of the Apple Music charts for Nigeria, with "Godly" reaching number one.

On 14 December 2020, Omah Lay was arrested alongside Tems after they performed in a show in Uganda. The Ugandan Police authority identified violation of COVID-19 lockdown protocols as the reason for their arrests. The artists felt they were set up. Two days later, the Ugandan government released the two, apologised for the arrests and cleared them of wrongdoing. On 25 June 2021, Lay was featured alongside fellow Nigerian singer Alpha P on Nigerian producer Masterkraft's official remix of Canadian singer Justin Bieber's single, "Peaches". On 8 July 2021, Lay released a new single, "Understand".

2022–present

In March 2022, Lay released "Attention", a second collaboration with Bieber. The song was part of Lay's debut album Boy Alone released the same year. As part of the album release, Lay launched the Boy Alone Tour where he played in both the United States and Canada in 2022. and he received a Headies Award for best Male Artist and Album for the album. The same year he also surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify for all his music. He was also featured on the song "I Can't Stop" along with Big Boss Vette which was a deluxe edition bonus track for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

In 2024, Omah Lay began the European leg of his Boy Alone Tour. During one of his performances in London, he drew criticism for inviting a female fan on stage to dance while her boyfriend was in attendance (and left the venue in disappointment). He also released the single "Holy Ghost" in 2024 as well as a remix of the song where he collaborated with French DJ and producer Martin Solveig. The song topped the African streaming platforms with over 100 million streams.

Achievements In 2020, Omah Lay gained widespread recognition after the release of his debut extended play (EP) Get Layd, which peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music charts. The EP included hit singles such as "Bad Influence" and "You," which gained massive streaming numbers across Africa.

In November 2020, he was featured as Apple Music’s debut Africa Rising Artist, an initiative to promote emerging African talent.

At the 14th Headies Awards held in February 2021, Omah Lay won the award for Next Rated, a category recognizing Nigeria’s most promising new artist. In the same year, he received a nomination for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

In July 2022, he released his debut studio album Boy Alone, which debuted at number one on the Nigerian albums chart and received critical acclaim for its introspective lyrics and unique Afrofusion sound.

In October 2022, Omah Lay was named Boomplay's Most Streamed Male Artist of the Year, surpassing 300 million total streams on the platform.

In 2023, he received nominations at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) for Best Male Artist in Western Africa and Song of the Year for "Understand".

In early 2024, Omah Lay sold out his headline concert at the O2 Academy Brixton in London, marking a significant milestone in his international career.

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications BEL(WA) FRA NLD SWI Boy Alone Released: 15 July 2022 Label: Sire, KeyQaad Formats: Digital download, streaming 158 106 42 82 — SNEP: Gold Clarity of Mind Released: 3 April 2026 Label: KeyQaad Formats: Digital download, streaming — — — — 8

Extended plays Title Extended play details Get Layd Released: 20 November 2020 Label: Sire Records, KeyQaad Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles As lead artist + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album NG CAN IRE NLD NZ Hot SWE SWI USBub. WW "Do Not Disturb" 2019 — — — — — — – — — — "Hello Brother" — — — — — — – — — — "Bad Influence" 2020 — — — — — — – — — — Get Layd "You" — — — — — — – — — — "Damn" — — — — — — – — — — TCSN: Silver "Forever" (Remix) 2021 1 — — — — — – — — — TCSN: Platinum SNEP: Gold AFP: Platinum MC: Platinum "Reason" 2023 1 — — — — — – — — — TCSN: 4× Platinum Viewer's Choice Best R&B Single"Bad Influence"Songwriter of the YearStanley Omah Didia – "Bad Influence"2021Ghana Music AwardsBest African Artiste of the Year Omah Lay MTV Africa Music AwardsBest Breakthrough Act Net HonoursMost Played Pop Song"Godly" Most Played RnB Song"Pami"All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA)Artiste of the Year in AfricaOmah Lay Best Artiste in Western AfricaBreakout Artiste of the YearBest Artiste, Duo or Group in African PopAfro X Digitals AwardsBreak Out Act of the YearOmah Lay