Music pundits have jokingly categorised Omah Lay’s debut studio album, Boy Alone, as ‘Afrodepression.’ They dubbed it Afrodepression due to the dark and melancholy tune that propounded the music project.
Omah Lay has been described as the most impressive young artistes in the Nigerian music industry, this is due to his penmanship, insightful lyrics and interesting perspective to some of the most simple things of our everyday lives- from love, romance and heartbreak, Omah Lay documents it proficiently within two minutes of each song. A lot of people might not agree with his lyrics on the surface level; however, Omah Lay’s perspective runs through the mind of the listener when the song has stopped playing.
Simply put, Omah Lay’s music connects with you on an emotional and deeper level.
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Boy Alone: The First Ever ‘Afrodepression’ Album
On July 15, 2022, Omah Lay released his debut studio album after the date was postponed on various occasions. In the end, the project got released, and it gained immediate impact, not out of the blue, but Omah Lay has been putting in the work for several years.
Before the release of Boy Alone in 2022, Omah Lay had already released an EP titled Get Layd in May, at the peak of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020. The project turned him into a social media sensation, especially after the single, ‘Yeyeye’, aired. Afterwards, listeners got introduced to the beautiful music that the Port Harcourt-born musician creates.
In his second EP, What Have We Done?, Omah Lay took a step further in developing his skillset and technique as a musician. He distanced himself from the pure lover boy persona he was known for in his first project; he flirted more with his emotions, the dark, twisted part of his heart.
Enter Boy Alone, Omah Lay has become a different breed from his contemporaries by this time in his music career. While others spoke about money, sex, and blowing up, Omah Lay’s lyrics decided to touch the innate part of humans (his Nigerian audience) that rarely receives attention from others, the mind.
In songs such as, ‘I’, ‘tell everybody’, ‘safe haven’, ‘I’m a mess’ and ‘purple song’, Omah Lay wasn’t talking about the mundane things of the everyday life, instead, he took his listeners on an ethereal journey that not every musician can create. While Lay’s lyrics are deep and dark, it’s interestingly appeals to the young demography in Nigeria and here is why- every young man suffers heartache and loneliness atleast once in his lifetime, for the women, they suffer from the privilege of too many options, ironically, this is mostly the struggles of the average celebrity.
Omah Lay penned his emotions in the simplest of manner, albeit he found a way to coerce his listeners to replay the song more than once.
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Summary: Omah Lay Can’t Revisit This Dark Place, So What Next?
Omah Lay was able to shed his heart deeply in Boy Alone; however, creating a music project similar to his debut album won’t be ideal. It’s been three years since he released his project; hence, there should be growth and development in his lyrics, character, and perspective on everyday life. In 2025, Lay is much richer than he was a couple of years ago, and he has been exposed to a much broader audience; hence, his pen game must switch up and evolve.
Boy Alone was good for its time, precious and beautiful for those who are healing from any form of heartache; however, it shouldn’t be a niche that he should find solace in. Most of his listeners would have outgrown that ‘Afrodepression’ phase; therefore, he needs to create a more mature music project compared to his debut album. Probably, this explains why the singer-songwriter hasn’t released a new album or body of work like he did in his first three years of mainstream emergence.
Overall, Omah Lay is one of the most impressive musicians in modern Nigerian music history.
