The year 2020 saw the steady rise to fame of Nigerian Afro-fusion musician Stanley Omah Didiah popularly known as Omah Lay. In 2019, the 22-year-old rapper turned singer signed a record deal with a label called Keyqaad. He spent the rest of the year pouring himself into recording his first E.P titled Get Layd. To promote the E.P, he released the first official single of the five-track project titled Bad influence. The success of the single shot the singer to unexpected fame. The single was followed by another hit single “You” which further drew attention to the young singer’s music. This post highlights top 5 songs by Omah Lay.
Songs by Omah Lay topped charts against all odds
On the 22nd of May 2020, Omah Law released his commercially successful and critically acclaimed debut project “Get Layd”. Despite the fact that the project was released during the coronavirus lockdown and with few promotions and zero collaborations with already established musicians, the project topped all music streaming platforms and charts. It garnered over 20 million streams on all platforms in just 3 weeks and as of September 2020 had received over 200 million streams across all platforms.
In November, Omah Lay released his second E.P “What have we done” to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. It featured hit tracks like Godly, Bebe, and Damn remix featuring American superstar rapper and singer 6lack. The success of the second project shot him into the international limelight. He has since then scored a collaboration with pop star Justin Beiber.
In December 2020 Omah Lay was nominated in four categories at the 2020 Headies awards. He won the award for the Next Rated at the Headies.
Listed below are my top 5 songs by Omah Lay
| Track | Detail |
| 1. Bad influence | Released as the first official single of the “Get Layd” E.P. Omah Lay scored his first major hit track with the single. His laid-back vocals delivered over a mid-tempo beat ushered in his signature Afro-fusion sound. It was the most streamed Nigerian song on the apple music streaming app in 2020. Its video has had over four million views on youtube. |
| 2. You | This track served as the second official single released for promotion of the Get Layd E.P. The fast tempo Afro-pop sound established the artist as more than just a one-hit wonder. |
| 3. Godly | Off his second project “What have we done” was also released in 2020. Omah Lay successfully replicated his first project with the second one. The track is a mid-tempo retrospective song that saw the artist giving thanks to God for bringing him so far. It also addressed those who previously didn’t believe in his talent. Godly reached number one on the Nigerian apple music charts and has over 35 million views on youtube. |
| 4. Damn | The track serves as the introductory track on the Get Layd E.P, delivered on his signature laid-back Afro-fusion sound. The singer sings about a love interest who loves him despite all his shortcomings. Becoming one of his very popular tracks off the project, he released a remix of the track with American Rapper and Singer 6lack. The official video for the track currently has over 8 million views on youtube. |
| 5. Can’t relate & my bebe | Sharing the number 5 spot are two of the most popular tracks of his sophomore project “What have we done”. While “My Bebe” is a fast tempo party bop, can’t relate is a mid-tempo Afro-pop track that talks about the singer’s struggles as a musician and how misunderstood celebrities are by those outside the industry. |
Omah Lay featured songs
Omah Lay has also had a list of successful feature appearances on songs with other Nigerian musicians, he was featured on rapper Olamide’s album “Carpe Diem” in 2020. The track “infinity” was an instant hit and topped the Nigerian apple music charts. He was also featured alongside WizKid and Adekunle Gold on Nigerian disk jockey DJ Tunez’s single “Pami”. Female R&B singer Gyakie featured him on the remix of her breakout single “Forever”. The track became a hit amongst users of the social media video app TikTok and its music video also has over 11 million views on Youtube in just 3 months of its release.
Omah lay’s first official single of 2021 titled “Understand” was released on the 9th of July 2021 and currently tops the chart on major streaming apps across the country.
