Who is Omah Lay and what’s his net worth?

Nigerian singer and songwriter Omah Lay, born Stanley Omah Didia on May 19, 1997, has been a hot sensation across the globe since rising to fame in 2020 with his self-produced single “Bad Influence.” The viral hit launched him into the spotlight, and he quickly gained recognition for his unique sound that blends Afro-pop, R&B, and hip-hop influences. 

The young artist was born and raised in Port Harcourt and he’s from Egbeda community in Emuoha local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria. His early hustle included uncredited production work for other artists, which fueled his desire to release his own music.

In 2019, he found success with singles like “Do Not Disturb” and “Hello Brother,” leading him to sign with the KeyQaad record label.  Following a focused period away from social media, he crafted his acclaimed debut EP, “Get Layd,” which solidified his place as a rising star in the Afrobeats scene. 

Thanks to his successful music career, Omah Lay has amassed an impressive net worth of $1.2 million (as of 2024). Omah Lay’s net worth in naira would be an estimate of ₦1,909,800,000.00 (one billion nine hundred nine million eight hundred thousand naira). His captivating tunes have garnered a massive following on streaming platforms and online media.  On YouTube alone, each of his songs rakes in an average of 10 million views, showcasing his global reach and influence. 

Omah Lay’s parents and siblings 

Omah Lay lost his father at the age of 12. His father used to be a drummer and his paternal grandfather was a percussionist for the late highlife singer Celestine Ukwu. 

Though Omah affirms being very close to his mom, he emphasizes the fact that the relationship is not the best out there but they’re both working to make it better. 

He has a younger sister Adanma Omah who is a professional fashion model, social media brand influencer, fashion stylist, and actress. 

Omah Lay’s wife, girlfriend, and children 

At the time of writing this article, there’s no verified information on whether Omah Lay is dating, married, or has a child. 

However, Omah was in a relationship with Gloria Eberechi as of 2021. Gloria is a Nigerian actress, model, storyteller, and fashion influencer. They started dating in 2020 but the relationship came to an abrupt end in less than 24 hours after Omah posted both of them in a cozy romantic pose on September 12, 2021. 

In reaction to the post, fans dug up photos of Gloria spending time with another man and accused her of cheating on Omah. In response to that, Omah Lay unfollowed her on Instagram. 

After a while, the man that Gloria was accused of having an affair shared on social media that he’s been friends with Gloria for 6 years and they’ve never had anything romantic between them. He also added that Omah is aware of their friendship and he never complained about it. Again, this got people talking and there were questions as to why Omah ended the relationship if he already understood the sort of relationship between Gloria and her friend. 

Omah Lay’s educational background 

Omah was a student of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He dropped out a few months after getting admission because he wanted to focus more on music production. In an interview with Notjustok in Germany, he recalled the experience saying, “I was in the university for half a year, and then I stopped. I dropped out, it’s alright. It was a hard choice because at that time, I was learning music production. I needed money for school and I needed time for music production.

“Somehow, I just loved music production so much that I let go of school for it. I felt like maybe sometime I’d come back but when I got really deep into music production; I didn’t go back to school, I didn’t even have the time. At some point, it felt like a wrong choice but then things started clicking. I started making beats that I love and people would wow at. I started writing songs for people. People didn’t believe that that was me, but I just kept doing it”. 

Omah Lay’s life before fame 

Growing up and engaging in illegal crude oil refinery in Marine Base, Port Harcourt 

Omah grew from the streets of Port Harcourt. Growing in the street is somewhat equal to being close to the bottom of the economic class. It’s more like the lower class in society. Omah once mentioned that he was well aware of the low class situation because even in church when food was distributed, families like his were the last that was attended to because they really didn’t matter financially. 

But there was a better life ahead. In Omah’s words, “Of course I knew that there was a better life. Of course I knew that. And that was one that has always been one of my motivations. Knowing that there’s a better life, I sleep at night on YouTube with videos of loft rain and New York loft. That’s what I sleep with. And I think that was one of the reasons why I didn’t take it easy, because probably my friends are like chilling. But I’m sleeping with New York loft, I’m not happy. It’s just not living with what you have at the point. It’s like living with what is in the future”.  

Asides growing up with little financial means, he recalls the criminal state of the environment he was living in, “I grew up among criminals at the Marine Base, he said. “And if you know that place very much, you’ll know that the place was where people didn’t go out when I was growing up. I grew up around criminals, thugs, illegal oil refinery businesses and stuff. It was a lot of trouble for me. I mean it is part of the thing that has made me what I am today. I make music for every situation I have found myself in. I am in a place where I feel so alive and I am gonna make music with it.”

At 13, Omah made a move to leave the house and fend for himself. His mom didn’t object because she believed in him, trusted his decisions, and supported him. So he left and was living with Francis (it’s not yet verified whether Francis is a relative or friend). 

To support his family, he engaged in illegal crude oil processing. In his own words, “I’m the first child and my dad died when I was around 12. So the weight of the family was on me when I was between 13 and 14, I went to Marine Base and did anything I could do to take care of my family. I dey do kpo fire”. 

While that was going on, he was also joining in rap battles at night as a way of building up his music skills. 

Writing songs for artists 

As you already know; Omah Lay dropped out of school to learn music production. Soon he started pursuing his career as a producer and songwriter. Omah Lay wrote songs for artists but got little to no recognition for it. Frustrated by the lack of credit for his work, he decided to step into the spotlight in 2019. He released “Do Not Disturb” and “Hello Brother” in Port Harcourt and that got him a record deal with KeyQaad. KeyQaad was a new record label at the time in July 2019. 

Omah Lay’s life after fame

After the record deal was signed, Omah Lay surprisingly took a break for 7 months to work on his album and during the pandemic in 2019, he released ‘Bad Influence’ and the single went on to become the most streamed Nigerian song on Apple Music by the end of the year. 

Forward to 2020, he dropped “You,” his first official single on valentines day (February 14th). On the 22nd of May in the same year, he released his debut EP, ‘Get Layd’ which peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music charts with all five songs from the EP reaching the top 15 of the Apple Music charts for Nigeria, and “You” peaking at number one.

In October when Olamide released his Carpe Diem album, he had Omah on the track “Infinity”. That track topped the Apple Music charts for Nigeria. Seeing Omah Lay on Olamide’s project wasn’t a shock because Olamide had revealed his intention to sign Omah to YBNL. However, his moves came in a little bit late because Omah was already signed to KeyQaad. 

Well, while fans were yet to get over the first EP, Omah dropped another five-track EP on 20 November titled, ‘What Have We Done?’. As always, all five tracks reached the top 12 of the Apple Music charts for Nigeria, but “Godly” made a difference when it got to number one.

Well as you know, the rest is a history of unending progress. 

7 questions and answers about Omah Lay’s life 

Does Omah Lay follow a strict plan for his day or is he spontaneous? 

As you already know, Omah Lay’s mood changes from time to time. That is how his approach to life is also. He lives spontaneously. This is not to say he doesn’t make plans, he does and actually follows through on his plans. However, he’s more of a spontaneous person than a routine keeper. 

Was Omah Lay shocked with how fast his life changed when music paid off? 

He may have felt excited and overwhelmed but shocked, we really can’t say. Now here’s what Omah Lay even says about this matter. 

“I don’t know if I’ll say it was a shock. I don’t think I ever was shocked with the way the thing happened, because I had always known that I was going that way with my life. Of course I knew very well where I was going.

I had to quit school at age 22 for it. I knew I was going somewhere. So when the whole thing happened, it just happened fast in such a way that it went from 1 to 70. I don’t think it’s fast anymore. I used to think it was fast, but now I’m beginning to realize that it just happened the way it was supposed to happen. And so yeah, it wasn’t so much of a shock. I feel like everything happened the way they were supposed to happen.”

How did Omah Lay deal with his new reality when he realized that the New York loft he watches on YouTube is now literally a part of his life? 

Taking clues from the earlier question and Omah Lay saying he wasn’t shocked about his fame coming fast, you might think that it was easy dealing with the reality of a new life. Truth is, it wasn’t! Omah Lay faced some difficulties. Here’s how Omah recounts his experience dealing with the sudden change. 

“…I think I’m such a person that’s learning about myself every day because everybody who blew up from the ghetto, they’re enjoying their lives, they’re busy flying, partying and stuff, but I never heard that. I never heard that.

“It was tough for me. It was like hiding from me. I was hiding and trying to figure out what and what. That’s why I’m so much more interested in myself than I’m interested in what is happening. I feel like there’s always something new about me that I am discovering every time.

“Of course it was fun. Of course, all the attention, the girls, everything, the money, of course that was fun. But then, for some reason, I was disconnected. It felt like two different things happening. Like I’m this and this is happening and I’m trying to find a way to balance it.

“So I was off. I went off. It actually rubbed off on me. It’s still there in my life where I am off of everything. I’m not on social media. Not like I’m not on social media but I’m not like the active guy who is there who knows everything that’s happening.

“So one thing is social media. I had a life and then it changed. It changed very fast. And then there’s now thousands of people, millions of people tweeting about me. Everybody is pouring their perspective of me on social media, and I’m busy reading this thing. I’m like the boy from…I just came bro. All this was during the pandemic.

“I was locked in the house. I was not even going outside to see the reaction of people. I was locked inside so this is me reading a bunch of people’s ideas of me. And then those things are sticking in my head. I go outside, remember the way and amazing things they wrote about Omah Lay, then I want to become that Omah Lay but I am Stanley.

 “You see, growing up, there was Omah Lay and there was Stanley. Omah Lay was Stanley’s dream that came to reality before he was even ready. I don’t know if I wasn’t ready, but then, I was still living in Stanley and now Omah Lay was flying. So I had to find a way to grow into Omah Lay and become Omah Lay.

“Well as time progressed, I became more comfortable. I learnt and I’m living my life right now. I’m very happy right now. I’m Omah Lay and Stanley right now. But it took a while for that to happen. It took until my last album, ‘Boy Alone’ for that to happen. The process of making ‘Boy Alone’ was the process of me learning that I am actually Omah Lay.” 

Did Omah Lay ever doubt himself or get scared that he won’t be to drop more hit songs after ‘Bad Influence’? 

Oh very much! Omah had a lot of doubts to deal with. This constant doubt even contributed to his inability to accept and be Omah Lay. He was thinking the first hit with ‘Bad Influence’ was just luck and wasn’t sure if the luck would continue with whatever he does afterwards. 

Looking back three years later after ‘Bad Influence’ Omah Lay said, “It’s been three years since my debut and I’m still here. I’m still making music and I’m still Omah Lay. 

Of course, that gives you a certain kind of confidence. It just makes me understand that it wasn’t a fluke. I’m not a fluke. I’m actually who I think that I am. I became more comfortable with even more evidence that I can do it”. 

How did Omah Lay get to work with Justin Bieber? 

If you ever think about an example of a celebrity being a fan of another celebrity, think of Justin Bieber being a fan of Omah Lay. 

Justin texted Omah Lay when the ‘Get Layd’ album was released and both stars started having conversations. One thing led to another and both worked on a single ‘Attention’. 

According to Omah, working with Justin is an experience he can never forget in his life. To him “Justin Bieber is such a human and I love him so much. He’s such a natural person. You meet people and you can’t find a human being in them. You can see clearly, see that they’re trying to be something”.

How does Omah Lay feel when people label his music as afro depression?

While this kind of labeling can be an issue for artists, Omah Lay doesn’t care about it. He feels like it’s just the way his fans and other listeners understand his music and he embraces that reality because music touches people differently depending on their reality, past, and expectation. He spoke about the labeling during an interview with Stephenie saying,

“The Afro Depression is a vibe, you know. I don’t mind how people want to interpret my music, how my fans want to interpret my music. I really don’t mind as long as it’s not in a negative way. If they enjoy it as Afro Depression, then of course that’s the vibe. Other people enjoy it as dance, they go to the club, listen to it, and dance. So it depends. Whatever anybody’s feeling like labeling it to enjoy and understand it, it’s fine by me. I love that. Afro depression, Afro groove, Afro, whatever. Let’s go”.

Why did Omah Lay take a break from social media?

Omah Lay’s decision to leave social media for a while can be traced back to his earlier statement above saying that he was disconnected because it felt like two different things were happening in his life at once and he was trying to find a way to balance it.

What would Omah Lay say to upcoming artists? 

“You just have to believe in yourself. If you’ve done it once and twice, if you’ve done it once, you can do it again. If you have actually done it once, you can definitely do it again. You just have to believe.”

Omah Lay’s relationships in the industry 

Olamide Baddo

Though Olamide’s plan to sign Omah didn’t pull through, both still maintained a good relationship and that’s evident from the projects they’ve worked on together. 

Justin Bieber 

Justin is the true human as long as Omah is concerned. Their relationship has been sustained over the years because of the level of synergy they share in being themselves and sharing their reality. 

Controversies 

The Ugandan arrest along with Tems

Tems and Omah Lay wrapped up a performance in Uganda on 14 December 2020 and were shortly arrested afterwards. The Ugandan Police authority stated that the artists were arrested owing to violation of COVID-19 lockdown protocols. 48 hours later, they were released and cleared of the allegation. Omah and Tems strongly believed it was all a set up. 

Eventim Apollo Concert girl 

While performing ‘Bend You’ at the Eventim Apollo in London on 20 February 2024; Omah Lay had one of his female fans come up on stage for a dance. The dance turned out to be a very hot one and that caused a lot of controversy with some people criticizing the act, some supporting it, some blaming the girl, and others blaming the girl’s boyfriend who was also an attendee of the concert. 

Awards, nominations, and recognitions 

Nominations

2020

• Nominated for ‘Viewer’s Choice’, ‘Bad Influence’ was nominated for ‘Best R&B Single’ and was also nominated for ‘Songwriter of the Year’ for ‘Bad Influence’ all the Headies. 

2021

• ‘Pami’ was nominated for ‘Most Played RnB Song’ by Net Honors
• Nominated for ‘Artiste of the Year in Africa’, ‘Best Artiste in Western Africa’, and ‘Breakout Artiste of the Year’ at the All Africa Music Awards

Awards

2020

• Won ‘Next Rated’ award at The Headies 

2021

• ‘Godly’ won ‘Most Played Pop Song’ at Net Honors
• Received ‘Break Out Act of the Year’ at Afro X Digitals Awards 

Recognitions 

• 3 July 2020: Omah Lay became the first artist chosen for Apple’s Africa Rising Campaign with the aim of putting the spotlight on African talent.

• December 2020: BBC Radio 1Xtra added him to their “Hot for 2021” list.
• 2017: He became the first African artist featured on Audiomack #Up Now program for emerging artists; and was also one of the ‘20 artists to watch in 2021’ at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s. 
• November 2020: He was named BET’s Amplified International Artist of the Month for November 2020. 

Omah Lay’s discography 

Albums 

2022

• Boy Alone 

Extended plays (EP) 

2020

• Get Layd
• What Have We Done 

Singles as lead artist 

2019

• Do Not Disturb
• Hello Brother 

2020

• Damn
• You
• Bad Influence

2021

• Understand
• Forever Remix with Gyakie
• Free My Mind
• Winter Wonderland / Don’t Worry Be Happy 

2022 

• Soso 
• Attention with Justin Bieber

Singles as featured artist 

2020

• Pami – DJ Tunez featuring Wizkid, Adekunle Gold, and Omah Lay
• Tonight – DJ Spinall featuring Omah Lay

2021

• Pron – toAjebo Hustlers featuring Omah Lay
• Peaches – (Masterkraft Remix) Justin Bieber featuring Alpha P and Omah Lay 

2022

• Name – Jul featuring Omah Lay 

Omah Lay’s net worth and assets 

Net worth 

Omah Lay has amassed an impressive net worth of $1.2 million (as of 2024). With the exchange rate fluctuating between 1500 and 1600, Omah Lay’s net worth in naira would be an estimate of ₦1,909,800,000.00 (one billion nine hundred nine million eight hundred thousand naira). His captivating tunes have garnered a massive following on streaming platforms and online media.  On YouTube alone, each of his songs rakes in an average of 10 million views, showcasing his global reach and influence. 

Omah Lay’s House

In September 2022, Omah Lay showed off his first mansion which according to one of his associates is worth 500 million naira. 

Omah Lay’s Cars

Asides the brand new car he received as part of compliments when he won the ‘Next Rated’ award in 2020 there’s no verified information on Omah Lay’s cars. 

Few lessons you can learn from Omah Lay 

1. Be resilient as you pursue your dreams: Omah Lay’s journey from the streets of Port Harcourt to international fame showcases the importance of resilience and pursuing one’s dreams despite challenging circumstances.

2. Take responsibility: after the loss of his dad, Omah Lay took responsibility to fend for himself and his family. Although his means of doing that is illegal; the lesson here is that you should take responsibility for your life and be determined to create a better life for yourself and your family. 

3. Keep moving even when you don’t believe in yourself: irrespective of how long it took Omah Lay to believe that he can replicate the success of ‘Bad Influence’ he kept releasing songs. Do what you have to do even when you don’t believe.