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Certain pains cannot heal completely by eventual success – the pain, the memories, and the overall feeling of loss always stay, which is the exact feeling you get when you listen to an Omah Lay track. Whether he is singing about a woman or his daily life, there is always a hint of torture and torment in his songs, and he channelled that energy with the release of his highly acclaimed album ‘Boy Alone.’
Although Boy Alone is his father’s name and what Omah Lay describes as a symbol of uniqueness, from personal interpretation, it is just Omah Lay letting go of his demons so people can feel and learn from them. He takes us through different phases, as he eventually lets go of that phase of his life in the deluxe version of the album he released on June 15, 2023.
Born and raised in Port-Hacourt, Stanley Omah Didia hails from Egbeda, Emohua, Rivers Local Government Area in Rivers State, till he left a year after the death of his father to Marine Base, one of the slum settlements in central Port Harcourt, which provide accommodation to low-income earners who cannot afford the highly-priced apartments in centre Port Harcourt. There he lived for years, hustling, even going as far as illegally refining oil and working as a dry cleaner before he eventually left the hood due to differences he had with cultists.
Amidst this, one thing that never faltered was his dream to make music, either as a producer or as an artiste. Considering that he had always had musical influences from his grandfather, a percussionist for famous Highlife singer Celestine Ukwu.
When everything about him was tainted due to his need for survival, he ran to his music, and that is exactly what he lays bare in Boy Alone Deluxe as he starts with reason, a song that details how he felt when he was in the creeks illegally mining oil. He mentioned in an interview with Joey Akan, that he left the creeks because ‘everyone he knew was dying,’ so when he said, ‘Army is opening heavy fire, I’m unsafe, but I’m still out here,’ it immediately helps understand his feelings.
He continues as he questions why he even started doing this in the first place, he said, ‘What is the reason you do not have your own peace of mind, are you having fun or are you doing this thing to survive?’ In addictive melody and groovy beat, Omah Lay tells us a story that has tormented and shaped him, but we can’t help but also move to the groove despite its depressive lyrics.
In ‘Come Closer,’ although it seems like he is talking to someone else, it feels like it’s someone else’s narration of how he is. How in his head he always is. All ‘Come Closer’ is saying is I’m always in my shell due to crippling anxiety, but most importantly at the end of the track he says ‘You know sunshine is for everybody you just have to go outside.’
‘It’s Yours’ is an extension as he continues to talk about the pain of not connecting with the woman he loves. Aside from how the melody of ‘Imagine’ seeps through the right and left side of buds subsequently, Omah Lay shows us a lighter side to him, but he also talks about loss, but he is making peace. Writing lines like ‘I’m happy for you,’ ‘I will not complain,’ he might have just come to make peace with the fact that he is indeed broken. Even in Joanna, where he is talking about a connection with a woman, it still ends in war.
“I put my life on a billboard for the whole world to watch me fail and win, so the kids could see, learn and believe. So the youths could feel from a distance how tough a skin could be. Omg! I feel so mature and grown! Damn! I’m happy. For the first time, I’m excited about my birthday. Wow! First time in my life I’ve lived on earth,” Omah Lay tweeted before his album release.
Although the depth of Boy Alone gives off a haunting feel that further explains why the album was titled ‘Boy Alone,’ it feels like a close of a chapter, the ending chapter where the protagonist finally lets go of all his demons and eventually steps into the light. 14-year-old Omah Lay will be proud.
The post Boy Alone: How Omah Lay Created A Sub-Genre With His Intricate Lyrics and Spiritual Melody appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
