Omah Lay

Stanley Omah Didia, known professionally as Omah Lay, emerged in 2020 as a Nigerian vocalist and beatmaker whose Afrofusion approach blended pop, R&B, hip-hop, and highlife elements. His first studio album, Boy Alone, arrived in 2022 and helped expand his reach through partnerships with Justin Bieber and Ozuna.

Port Harcourt, the southern Nigerian city where he was born, also served as the setting for his early life on a marine base that housed his father’s posting. Drumming ran in the family; his grandfather had performed with 1970s Igbo highlife figure Celestine Ukwu. By his late teens Didia had shifted from street rapping on the base to studio production. After gaining initial traction as a songwriter and producer for other acts, he issued the 2019 singles “Do Not Disturb” and “Hello Brother,” which drew the notice of KeyQaad. Signing with the imprint prompted a move to Lagos, where the sleeper-hit single “You” surfaced in early 2020. That track anchored his well-received debut EP Get Layd, released later that spring alongside four additional songs. A follow-up project, the winter EP What Have We Done, extended the momentum with the tracks “Godly” and “My Bebe.”

In 2021 Didia joined Alpha P on Masterkraft’s remix of Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” then recorded the duet “Attention” with Bieber later the same year. Boy Alone, his debut full-length, appeared in 2022 and featured “Attention” together with the singles “Understand” and “Free My Mind.” A 2023 deluxe edition added a refreshed take on “Soso” that now included Ozuna.