Rising star Omah Lay is the inaugural artist of Apple Music’s new Africa Rising program.
Omah Lay is a relatively new name in Nigeria’s mega-industry; yet, step by step, its popularity seems to be growing unstoppably. The Port Harcourt native began producing music at the age of 15, and released his debut EP Get Layd in May 2020.
The 5-track project was carried by the romantic hits “You” and “Bad Influence”, in constant rotation on West African radios and nightclubs. His musical style is clear and unapologetic: “I make afrobeats. ”, the singer tells; “This is what we do. In my own making of afrobeats, I don’t like to get myself all boxed in, what it should sound like. I try my best to search every single place, you know, every single style. I want to do reggae, I want to do dancehall, but at the end, I want to do afrobeat. So I’m not trying to be boxed in.”
His recent success has notably allowed him to be the first artist featured on Africa Rising, Apple Music’s new program, aiming to promote African talent. The program features an artist selected by Apple Music’s editorial team on the continent and uses the full force of the platform to amplify them to music fans in Africa and around the world.
“Lo Lo”, the second title of the project, was produced by the singer himself, joined by an extra guitar and vocals. A romantic ode quintessentially, the song is here embellished by a video clip by Dammy Twitch, featuring the singer in a deliciously vintage Nigerian aesthetic universe.
