Celebrating 5 years since Omah Lay’s game changing debut EP ‘Get Layd’
In 2020, when the world was grounded by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, a certain rising star by Omah Lay from Port Harcourt announced himself with his debut EP ‘Get Layd’
The EP not only showcased his daring talent but placed a new premium on melodies that draw in listeners and poignant writing that conveys a warmth rarely seen in Afrobeats party-starting sound.
22-year-old Stanley Omah Dibia delivered a 5-track EP that conveyed the yearnings of a philanderer and tenderness of a romantic, the internal conflicts and fears of a young man raised in the interminable conflicts of the oil-rich Rivers state, and the ambitions of a talent crafting his path.
Honest, warm, and endearing music is what Omah Lay offered on ‘Get Layd,’ through thoughts that speak to the consciousness of the average listener, relatable writing, and measured melodies that help them feel things.
Omah Lay’s music is like poetry in his flowery use of language. But this poet combines English, Pidgin, South-South street language, and melodies that embrace his roots and hold up the ethereal nature of his talent to bring listeners into his world.
On ‘Damn,’ he effortlessly molds melodies to paint a vivid picture of a lover with a dark side. What sells this tale is the sobriety that comes from accepting his flaws, which leads to a better appreciation of being loved against all odds.
Or as Charles Dickens said in ‘Great Expectations’, to be loved against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.
So when he sat back and took in the love he’s fortunate to receive, he sings “she loves me like damn, like damn damn damn, like damn damn damn damn, damn damn damn,” repeating the words “damn,” painting the picture of a man truly lost for words.
On ‘Lo Lo,’ Omah Lay dons the cloak of a lover who bears and offers all his love because that’s all he has.
Like a musician with nothing but his melodies, he takes from the Highlife melodies from South South indigenous music and interprets it in soulful melodic that allow the drums, strings, keys, and backup vocals to uplift the record and give it a live feel.
“I love you,” he repeats on ‘You’ where his emotions float to the surface of his melodies. Again, he offers all his love. He pledges to go to war, relegates concerns for his safety, and shares his readiness to risk it all.
While his sweet-tonguing and promises were typical of Afrobeats stars, his melodies and the emotions they convey suggest a level of honesty and depth often missing in generic pop music.
Omah Lay is a man who strongly feels things. The pendulum of his emotions is well lubricated, and they swing fast in both directions. So when he loves, he does so loudly, and when he hurts, he shares the pain with equal zest as he did on the stunning record ‘Bad Influence’.
A true wordsmith, Omah Lay paints a vivid picture of a steamy moments through writings that lifts little to the imagination and melodies that itself captires the very intensity of the act.
“She go ye ye ye ye ye,” he sings on the project closer, ensuring that listeners make no mistake of the effect of his touch.
Despite vividly talking about how dedicated he is to the act, he insists on mimicking the way she sounds because how else would he leave no doubt in the listener’s mind?
That’s the type of man and artist Omah Lay is. One that leads listeners by the hand to ensure they feel every joy, pain, and passion just as strongly as he feels it.
‘Get Layd’ is the story of a complex man who embraces every side of himself with a violent yet vulnerable passion he eagerly shares.
‘Get Layd’ is refreshing, bold, and beautiful. These are some of the many glowing adjectives that qualify Omah Lay.
