Stanley Omah Didia, known professionally as Omah Lay, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He gained widespread recognition in early 2020 after his self-produced single, “Bad Influence”, went viral on social media. He is also known for being featured alongside Alpha P on the official Masterkraft’s remix of Justin Bieber’s 2021 single, “Peaches”, as well as another collaboration with the latter on “Attention” in 2022. Lay won the Next Rated award at the 2020 Headies Awards.

 

Omah Lay, Biography, Age, Net Worth, Education and Real Name.

Name: Stanley Omah Didia
Also known as: Omah Lay
Born: Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Genres: Afrobeat R&B
Occupation(s): Singer, song writer, record producer
Years active: 2019–present
Labels: KeyqaadKXI

Early life
Stanley Omah Didia was raised in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. He hails from Ikwerre, Rivers Local Government Area in Rivers State. He attended Comprehensive High School in Rivers State before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt. He comes from a musical family and his grandfather played instruments for the singer Celestine Ukwu before he died in 1977. Lay’s father played the drums.

 

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Career
Lay started out in a rap group under the stage name “Lil King.” He later moved on to songwriting and music producing, which went largely uncredited, and as a result of that, he released “Do Not Disturb” in April 2019. “Hello Brother” was released a month after.

 

He signed to a record label named KeyQaad in June 2019, and took a seven month break. During the break, he worked on his debut EP, Get Layd. He told OkayAfrica, “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. The first song I’d recorded on Get Layd was ‘Bad Influence.’ I’d done that way before the songs we had to put on the project.” Following the break, he released “Bad Influence,” which became the most streamed Nigerian song on Apple Music at the end of 2020.

On 14 February 2020, Lay released “You,” his first official single. He released his five-track debut EP, Get Layd on 22 May 2020. The 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.

In October, Lay appeared on Olamide’s album Carpe Diem, on the track “Infinity”, which topped the Apple Music charts for Nigeria.

On 20 November, 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.

On 3 July 2020, Lay was the first artist highlighted for Apple’s Africa Rising Campaign to spotlight African talent. In December 2020, he was included in BBC Radio 1Xtra’s annual “Hot for 2021” list. He was the first African artist featured on Audiomack’s #Up Now program for emerging artists; was included in Montreux Jazz Festival’s “20 artists to watch in 2021”; and was named BET’s Amplified International Artist of the Month for November 2020. He is currently signed to Dvpper Music Distribution in Nigeria, and Sire Records for international distribution. He was nominated in four categories at the 2020 Headies Awards, winning the Next Rated award.

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”. On 3 March 2022, he released a collaboration with Bieber, “Attention”, which serves as the second collaboration between the two artists.

Controversy
On 14 December 2020, Lay was arrested alongside 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. Two days later, the Ugandan government released the two, apologised for the arrests and cleared them of wrongdoing.

Omah Lay – Woman

Discography
Title Album details
Boy Alone
Released: July 15, 2022
Label: Sire, KeyQaad

Title Extended play
Get Layd
Released: 22 May 2020
Label: Sire, KeyQaad
What Have We Done
Released: 20 November 2020
Label: Sire, KeyQaad

Singles
“Do Not Disturb”
“Hello Brother”
“Bad Influence”
“You”
“Damn”
“Forever” (Remix) (with Gyakie)
“Understand”
“Free My Mind”
“Winter Wonderland / Don’t Worry Be Happy”
“Attention” (with Justin Bieber)

Awards and Nominations
2020 The Headies Next Rated Omah Lay Won
Viewer’s Choice Nominated
Best R&B Single “Bad Influence” Nominated
Songwriter of the Year Stanley Omah Didia – “Bad Influence” Nominated
2021 Ghana Music Awards Best African Artiste of the Year Omah Lay TBA
MTV Africa Music Awards Best Breakthrough Act Pending
Net Honours Most Played Pop Song ”Godly” Won
Most Played RnB Song “Pami”
(DJ Tunez featuring Wizkid Adekunle Gold & Omah Lay) Nominated
All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) Artiste of the Year in Africa Omah Lay Nominated
Best Artiste in Western Africa Nominated
Breakout Artiste of the Year Nominated
Best Artiste, Duo or Group in African Pop Nominated
Afro X Digitals Awards Break Out Act of the Year omah Lay won