Omah Lay: Breaking Into Lagos Is Key to Afrobeats Success
Kehinde Adeleye
Nigerian singer Omah Lay has said that the Afrobeats music scene is largely centred in Lagos and dominated by artists from the Yoruba ethnic group.
The singer, whose real name is Stanley Omah Didia, shared the view during the listening party for his upcoming album, Clarity of Mind. According to him, Lagos remains the gateway for artists hoping to succeed in the genre.
Omah Lay noted that the late Fela Kuti, widely regarded as a pioneer of the genre, was Yoruba and played a major role in shaping the modern Afrobeats sound.
“Afrobeats is mainly Lagos. It’s mainly Yorubas. Fela Kuti is the pioneer, we all know that, and he’s Yoruba. I’m from PH, and you have to break into Lagos. There are only two people from PH that you know – Burna Boy and me,” he said.
During the event, the singer also opened up about a personal experience that occurred around the time of the Grammy Awards.
He recalled going through a painful breakup while attending the ceremony, describing it as an embarrassing moment.
“While Justin Bieber was performing at the Grammys, I was having a breakup right inside. It was embarrassing. The relationship was only two months, by the way. I thought it was going somewhere serious, maybe even a baby. I wasn’t present mentally at the Grammys; I didn’t enjoy anything,” he said.
Omah Lay was recently nominated for a Grammy Award alongside Davido for their song With You.
The singer also joked about a bad experience with barbers while preparing for the awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
“I went to LA for the Grammys and got a barber to prepare for the show, but he messed me up. I got another barber who was supposed to be the best in LA, and his price was exaggerated to fix it. He came and completely messed me up again,” he said.
