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Omah Lay Takes Afro-Fusion To The World In His Own Way
Born and raised in Ikwerre, River State, Omah Lay rises from the same soil that nurtured the likes of Burna Boy, Lyrikal, Mr Eazi, Duncan Mighty and Ajebo Hustlers. Bounded by political turmoil from the Niger Delta conflict to the #EndSars movement, where the abuse of power is a common trope, it’s the simple phrase ‘Afrobeats to the world’ that fuels Omah Lay's steps. His creative output isn’t wrapped in political messages, instead it's the rawness and authenticity of his home soil that’s moulded the Afro-fusion star to be exactly who he is todaera; a genre that was conceived before the existence of Afrobeats yet it’s flavourful undertones can be detected in almost every artist that erupts from Nigeria’s musical empire. However, it was the moment listeners encountered the track “Bad Influence” that rapidly catapulted Lay into the spotlight, earning him widespread acclaim.
It may seem like the River State native seemingly appeared out of nowhere but his 2020 EP Get Layd was our first proper introduction to Omah Lay’s world of romantic confessions and vivid scenarios. A poet-turned-artist, his poignant lyrics travel through a direct line from his page to our ears. Despite its suggestive title, the project isn’t a crude show of sexual proclivity, rather it's a tender statement of his intent to love and be loved in spite of his ‘bad-boy’ nature.
Each track experiments with the idea of what Afro-fusion looks like in Omah Lay’s mind; from the mellow R&B “Damn” or “Ye Ye Ye” which convulses with hypnotic guitar melodies placed over tittering trap drums. “Lo Lo” is another offering on the EP that takes inspiration from Nigeria’s golden Highlife
Still swayed by the lush sounds of Get Layd, we were met with another project in the same year titled What Have We Done which featured US R&B star 6LACK and further solidified Omah as one to watch. Playing his hand as both songwriter and producer, Omah’s strengths are in full bloom, now all that’s left to do is sit back and watch as he takes over the global music sphere.
Meet Omah Lay, a living dichotomy of eccentric youthfulness and melancholy; an artist representing the many forms of Afro-fusion to the world.
WORDS Blessing Borode
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Derrick Odafi
PHOTOGRAPHER Kemka Ajoku
STYLIST Symone Keisha
STLYLIST ASSISTANT Miatta Coomber
MUA Blessing Kambanga
SET DESIGNER Sofia Mpana
SET DESIGNER ASSISTANT Vernetta Chukwu
PRODUCTION New Wave Studios
BTS Tameisha Edwards
NW: How’s it been performing and connecting with your fans in person now?
OL: Yeah the feeling is something I can’t explain, this is the first time I’m touring because I blew up during the pandemic so there were no shows, it was just people listening to the songs from home but for the first time people are actually coming out. It’s a different kind of feeling, I really can’t explain it.
NW: Tell us about who Omah Lay is as a person and an artist?
OL: I can’t really differentiate between the Omah Lay as an artist and as a person, I think I’m just Omah Lay - that’s the best way I can describe myself.
NW: You come from Ikwerre, River State in Nigeria, tell us about what growing up there was like, what was around you?
OL: I grew up in Port Harcourt river state in Nigeria and the Niger Delta struggle and everything actually kind of influenced my music. Growing up I was listening to a lot of Burna Boy because he’s from my city too, I was listening to him and Drake so that made my childhood. I think all of that actually influenced who I am today - it made me become Omah Lay.
NW: You currently live in Lagos but how is Port Harcourt life compared to Lagos for those unfamiliar with the city?
OL: Growing up in Port Harcourt is quite different from the Lagos vibe. I talked about the whole Niger Delta struggle and that’s actually in Port Harcourt. It’s not easy growing up there but it’s a memory I want to have forever but at the same time, it wasn’t so easy. It’s a really tough place to be, trust me. Growing up there made me who I am like I said earlier, it made me Omah Lay and I really can’t explain it until you go see for yourself what port Harcourt is. It’s a beautiful city but the vibe is different from Lagos
NW: You come from a family of legendary musicians, what’s one thing that inspires you about them?
OL: I come from a family where my grandad used to be a percussionist and they told me stories about him but growing up I just realised that I can make music and coupling it with the fact that my grandad was a percussionist just made perfect sense. I just go with the flow and get inspiration from different places but my grandad is definitely one of my inspirations. ‘Afrobeats to the world’ is another of my big inspirations.
NW: When was the moment you felt a real connection to music?
OL: There’s this song that I listened to when I was young R Kelly and Snoop Dogg ‘That’s That Shit’ - that’s the title of the song. The first time I listened to that song was when I actually felt music for real and I was really young. When I heard that song it opened something.
Coat: Jun Li
Shirt: Palm Angels
Trousers: Saul Nash
Shoes: Dr. Martens
Jewellery: Feather Pendants, artist’s own
“ I just go with the flow and get inspiration from different places”
Jacket: Oliver Julius Ross
Trousers: Palm Angels
Shoes: Axel Arigato
Jewellery: Cernucci, Dominic Jones, artist’s own
NW: Where did your love for poetry begin and how does this influence your songwriting?
OL: I wrote poems professionally. Growing up I listened to a lot of rap songs, a lot of Drake, I was young but it was just me writing my thoughts and it turned out that it was poetry but it wasn’t professional writing. I was just writing lyrics, back then I didn’t know it was lyrics but I just wrote it. Somehow all those times actually helped my writing skills.
NW: When you first started making music, what helped you have a better understanding of the sound you wanted to achieve?
OL: I had been a music producer for a long time before I started making my own music, I know exactly what I want. I was making almost all types of music, I listened to anything that was on the internet and all that shit. It actually expanded how I see, listen and perceive music and how I create because of my time making music for other people. So whenever I get to the studio I’ve made a lot of this so I’m always looking for something new.
NW: You produce a lot of your music, one of them being “Bad Influence” which is still a big hit right now. What inspired you to pick up production?
OL: I started off as a rapper before I became a music producer and it was quite hard to get studio sessions and to get people to produce the songs that I wanted so I decided to learn music production so I could produce my own songs. At some point, I completely left the whole rap thing and I was a full-time producer but you know there was a moment in my life where I felt like ‘oh I can actually sing for real’. A lot of songs that I produce and wrote for people I didn’t get enough credit, I wanted more so I decided to pick up the pen and write my songs myself. I did the first one and people showed me love and I rode with it.
NW: What has producing your own music helped you to understand about yourself as an artist?
OL: I understood that I loved my space when making music, that’s one thing that producing my own songs has taught me. I love my space and I love being alone when I’m making music.
NW: You put out two EPs in 2020 - Get Layd which is centered around love and relationships then What Have We Done is more introspective and in a way you’re leaning into your spirituality as you rise to fame. What kind of headspace were you in while creating Get Layd and how was it different from ‘What Have We Done’?
OL: I wrote Get Layd as soon as I came to Lagos, it was me moving from my city and from being just a producer in Port Harcourt to moving to the biggest city when it comes to entertainment in Nigeria. So moving from Port Harcourt to Lagos, it was a whole different experience because the lifestyle in Lagos is different than the one in Port Harcourt. I used the be a music producer that stayed in the studio all day but coming to Lagos and becoming an artist myself- while I was writing Get Layd I just wanted to show the world that I could do it. It was a start for me, I was calm and enjoying myself, I had barely ten thousand followers on Instagram back then, I could do whatever I liked.
Cardigan: Pronounce
Trousers: JORDANLUCA
Jewellery: Cernucci, artist’s own
NW: ‘What Have We Done’ also has a feature with 6LACK, how did you guys connect and what was it like working on this song together?
OL: 6LACK, he hits me up sometimes and he loved the record so much and he wanted to jump on it and I was really excited. It was such a good moment in my life and he did it, I got the verse and it was magic!
NW: Get Layd currently sits at over 70 million streams. Has your awareness of your global audience changed the way you make music?
OL: Not really but because I’ve been to places I’ve never been before and I’ve seen how people live- people live differently but at the end my route is Africa, I’m Nigerian I’m always going to make African music but recently I visited London, I had my shows and I lived there for a minute and I saw how people live and the culture so definitely I’m going to add that to my music. I’ve learnt a different culture and I want to put that in my music because now I know I have fans in London. I knew I had fans there but now I see how they live so definitely I want to put that in my music and try to make it more relatable to my fans. When I visit France, the US- it’s just me learning and improving my music, it’s not like the way I perceive or the way I make my music is going to change because people are listening, it’s just I’ve learnt a new culture and I will definitely want to infuse that in my music.
NW: How are you able to make music that resonates with people on such a global scale?
OL: I just go to the studio, turn on the mic and just do whatever I feel like. My music is personal and I feel like a lot of people in the world have actually gone through a few of the things I’ve been through so when I put them in my songs I feel like it hits those people that have been through it. There’s a whole lot of people in the world that have been through it, that’s just it, I go to the studio, speak my truth and say how I feel and somehow the rest is history.
NW: What emotions are you trying to evoke through your music?
OL: A lot of people feel it differently and I don’t try to channel a whole feeling, I just make music and people decide how they want to feel it - if they want to be sad, if they want to dance, if they want to drink with it, my fans decide. It depends on your mood though.
NW: Can you give us a breakdown of your creative process? What usually comes first?
OL: It actually comes as it comes, it’s not a rigid process. It’s really flexible as sometimes I get a beat first, sometimes I just record a melody on my phone then go to the studio and play it for a producer then we come up with other ideas. It’s really flexible, it can happen any way it’s just me going with the flow.
NW: Through your musical journey, what other aspects of the creative industry have caught your attention?
OL: I want to see myself acting someday.
NW: Your social media presence has risen significantly over the past few years. How do you cope with online attention?
OL: I’m not the most active person online but once in a while I go and respond to my fans, I just live my life and my fans can definitely relate to this.
NW: What inspired the narrative of the visuals for the music video “Understand”? Why this particular style of visual storytelling?
OL: I’m giving credit to the director Top Shotta. I brought the song and he came up with the script and everything, he did the editing and when I say the storyline behind it it was perfect and I loved it instantly. It was his idea, just a little bit of my own touches so I’m giving him all the credit for that.
NW: What excites you the most about the current climate of Nigerian music?
OL: I’m so excited and I’m so happy to be one of the people who are actually making Nigerian music more global by the day and I’m so grateful for that.
NW: How do you use your music to speak about politics and injustice in Nigeria/Africa in general?
OL: I’m actually not big on politics, I’m just a person that makes music how I feel it. Definitely, I speak against injustice but I’m not so much of the type that wants to talk about politics and stuff, but if I don’t feel right about something I’m always going to speak up. I have people who need somebody to speak up for them
“ While I was writing ‘Get Layd’, I just wanted to show the world that I could do it. It was a start for me...”
NW: How do you aim to stand out through fashion and your sense of style?
OL: It feels right when it feels right. I’m an African and I’m always going to represent where I come from. You just feel good when you’re being yourself and that’s unique enough.
NW: This issue is based on the theme of independence, what does that word mean to you? // how does this word relate to your creative expression through music?
OL: Independence is definitely just me knowing what I want, I always go for what I think is right.
NW: Now that you are signed, how do you still maintain a sense of independence and autonomy over your music when other creative minds are involved?
OL: First of all, I believe in what I do. There are boundaries but when it comes to creativity, I’m independent. I mean I definitely want to work with other people and take ideas and all but in the end, I know exactly what I want for myself and I’m always going for it. At the end, when everything is done, it falls down to me, it’s my music and I have to make it the way I feel is right.
NW: How did your come up as an independent artist shape you to be who you are today?
OL: Being independent was the time of my life but looking forward there’s a lot that I can do with a team and looking back at the times where I didn’t have a team it’s a big difference. Being independent is good but sometimes teamwork is always the best.
Shirt: Nanushka
Trousers: Nanushka
Shoes: Clarks
Jewellery: Cernucci
“I believe in what I do, there are boundaries but when it comes to creativity, I’m independent.”
