Stanley Omah Didia popularly known as Omah Lay is a singer, songwriter, record producer. He first gained prominence in 2020 after his debut single You went viral. He started as a producer and songwriter in Port Harcourt but only made up his mind to take up singing when he realized he doesn’t get enough credit for the songs he helped create for others. He then recorded and put out Do not Disturb and Hello Brother in his hometown Port Harcourt which earned him a record deal with KeyQaad.

Omah Lay was born on the 19^th of May 1997 in the city of Port Harcourt in Southern Nigeria, he spent most of his teenage years at Marine Base. Omah Lay wouldn’t be the first to attempt music in his family as his grandfather made a career as a drummer for the late 70s Highlife sensation, Celestine Ukwu.

Omah Lay started music as a teenager rapping in the streets of Marine Base as Lil King but then he got bored and started learning how to produce music. He made his mark first on the local music scene in early 2019 as a producer making a couple of records that got massive radio spins in his hometown but he thought he didn’t get the accolades and credit he deserved writing and producing those records. He decided to start singing and performing the songs he writes. In 2019, he recorded and put out Do Not Disturb and Hello Brother and they enjoyed good spins on his hometown radio stations. This caught the ears of record labels and he ended up signing with KeyQaad in July 2019 and left his hometown for the first time and moved to Lagos, Nigeria.

In January 2020, he teased his Instagram followers with a verse he had recorded and the feedback was amazing so he decided to make the song available for free as a teaser to his official single, that song became Bad Influence which went on to garner millions of streams on Digital stores. He then released his official single You on the 14th of February 2020. You put him on some reputable lists artists to watch out for in 2020 like NotjustOk and NativeMag. The song got a mixed review from Pulse NG who wrote that “the song lacked resonance” though the same article went on to praise Omah Lay as a “master with everything associated with the song’s hook”.

On the 22nd of May, Omah Lay dropped his debut EP which included the previously released You and Bad Influence. The EP became an instant commercial success becoming the most streamed Afrobeat album on Digital stores like Audiomack, Deezer, and Apple Music and went on to earn him Apple Music Favorite New Artiste of June in Africa. On June 7, Omah Lay was interviewed on the then-new Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio by Cuppy where he spoke about the success of his new EP and music influences. On Friday 3rd of July, he was picked as the debut star for Apple’s Africa Rising Campaign which spots talent in Africa and projects them all through the continent and internationally.

His big break came with the success of his first official single, You.

Did you know that Omah Lay started off as a producer and was successful at it?