| Omah Lay | |
| Birth Name: | Stanley Omah Didia |
| Birth Date: | 19 May 1997 |
| Years Active: | 2019–present |
| Birth Place: | Port Harcourt, Nigeria |
| Label: | Sire KeyQaad Warner Records |
Stanley Omah Didia (born 19 May 1997), known professionally as Omah Lay, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. Lay gained international prominence with his singles "Understand," "Attention," and "Soso". He has won numerous awards including Headies in 2020 and 2023.
Lay released his debut studio album Boy Alone in 2022, It was followed by a deluxe in 2023.[1] The album received critical acclaim.[2] [3]
Lay was born 19 May 1997 and raised in city of Port Harcourt in Nigeria.[4] He attended Comprehensive High School in Rivers State before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt.[5] Lay comes from a musical family. His grandfather played instruments for the singer Celestine Ukwu before he died in 1977. Lay's father played the drums.[6]
Lay began his career in a rap group where he went by the stage name "Lil King." At 16, he moved on to songwriting and producing for severals artists. He went solo in 2019 with the release of "Do Not Disturb" and "Hello Brother".[7] The same year, he signed to the record label named KeyQaad[8] and began working on Get Layd, his debut EP. In an interview withd OkayAfrica, 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."[9]
In 2020, Lay released the singles "Bad Influence" and "You," two songs from the Get Layd EP.[10] "Bad Influence" became the most streamed Nigerian song on Apple Music at the end of 2020.[11] His Get Layd EP peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music charts. All five songs from the EP reached the top 15 of the Apple Music charts for Nigeria, with "You" peaking at number one.[12] The same year he also appeared on the song "Infinity" on the Olamide's album Carpe Diem, which topped the Apple Music charts in Nigeria.[13]
On 3 July 2020, Lay was the first artist highlighted for Apple's Africa Rising Campaign to spotlight African talent.[14] [15] In December 2020, he was included in BBC Radio 1Xtra's annual "Hot for 2021" list.[16] He was the first African artist featured on Audiomack's #Up Now program for emerging artists;[17] was included in Montreux Jazz Festival's "20 artists to watch in 2021";[18] and was named BET's Amplified International Artist of the Month for November 2020.[19] He was nominated in four categories at the 2020 Headies Awards, winning the Next Rated award.[20] On 20 November 2020, 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.[21]
On 14 December 2020, Lay was arrested alongside[22] 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.[23] [24] Two days later, the Ugandan government released the two, apologised for the arrests and cleared them of wrongdoing.[25] 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".[26] [27]
In March 2022, Lay released "Attention", a second collaboration with Bieber.[28] The song was part of Lay's debut album Boy Alone released the same year.[29] As part of the album release, Lay launched the Boy Alone Tour where he played in both the United States and Canada in 2022.[29] During the summer of 2023, Lay released a deluxe version of this album Boy Alone[30] and he received a Headies Award for best Male Artist and Album for the album.[31] The same year he also surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify for all his music.[32] He was also featured on the song "I Can't Stop" along with Big Boss Vette which was a deluxe edition bonus track for the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[33]
Lay began the European leg of his Boy Alone Tour in 2024.[34] 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).[35] 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.[33]
Lay has expressed his support for the
campaign in Nigeria. He told Harper's Bazaar, "People need to know these protests are purely about the people, with no political undertone whatsoever. Police harass, extort, beat, and kill us just for being young and trendy, with no consequences. This has gone on long enough, and we are saying enough is enough and demanding government action."[36]
| Title | Extended play details | |
|---|---|---|
| Get Layd |
| |
| What Have We Done[40] |
|
| Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [41] | IRE [42] | NLD [43] | NZ Hot [44] | SWE [45] | SWI | UK [46] | US Bub. [47] | WW [48] | |||||
| "Do Not Disturb" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | rowspan="2" | ||
| "Hello Brother" | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | ||||
| "Bad Influence" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | Get Layd | ||
| "You" | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | ||||
| "Damn" | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | ||||
| "Forever" (Remix) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | |||
| "Understand" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Boy Alone | |||
| "Free My Mind" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Winter Wonderland / Don't Worry Be Happy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Attention" | 2022 | 45 | 78 | 62 | 9 | 87 | 49 | 76 | 11 | 74 |
| Boy Alone | |
| "Soso" | — | — | 79 | — | — | 52 | — | — | — | ||||
| "Reason" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | rowspan="3" | ||
| "Holy Ghost" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | |||
| "Moving" | — | — | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Year | Album | |
|---|---|---|
| "Tonight" | 2020 | Grace |
| "Pami" | ||
| "Pronto" | 2021 | Kpos Lifestyle, Vol. 1 |
| "Peaches" (Masterkraft Remix)" | ||
| "Namek" | 2022 | Cœur blanc |
| "People Remix" | 2023 | rowspan="2" |
| "Another Vibe" | 2024 |
| Year | Other artist(s) | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Infinity" | 2020 | Olamide | Carpe Diem | |
| "Abeg" | 2021 | DJ Neptune, Joeboy | Greatness 2.0 | |
| "Tears" | 2024 | Kehlani | Crash |
Kidoben Ace
Klug Ali
Sikiboi
Omah Lay – Get Layd
Moveek
Omah Lay – What Have We Done
Jhay Jhay
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee/work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Headies | Next Rated | Omah Lay | [52] | |
| Viewer's Choice | [53] | ||||
| Best R&B Single | "Bad Influence" | ||||
| Songwriter of the Year | Stanley Omah Didia – "Bad Influence" | ||||
| 2021 | Ghana Music Awards | Best African Artiste of the Year | Omah Lay | [54] | |
| MTV Africa Music Awards | Best Breakthrough Act | [55] | |||
| Net Honours | Most Played Pop Song | ''Godly" | [56] | ||
| Most Played RnB Song | "Pami" | ||||
| All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) | Artiste of the Year in Africa | Omah Lay | [57] | ||
| Best Artiste in Western Africa | |||||
| Breakout Artiste of the Year | |||||
| Best Artiste, Duo or Group in African Pop | |||||
| Afro X Digitals Awards | Break Out Act of the Year | Omah Lay | [58] | ||