Nigerian singer Omah Lay has sparked one of the most heated conversations in the Afrobeats community this week, declaring that the genre is losing its dominance in Western countries and vowing that his new music will help reverse the decline. His comments came during his Lagos Warehouse Session on Thursday night, an event that coincided with the release of his highly anticipated sophomore album, Clarity of Mind.
Born Omah Stanley Didia and hailing from Port Harcourt, the singer did not mince his words as he addressed what he described as a visible retreat of Afrobeats from its peak years of global popularity.
“Overseas, Afrobeats is declining. It is facts. Our artistes are doing really great but the Afrobeats that you guys used to know in 2020-2024, are not the Afrobeats you know now anymore.” — Omah Lay, Lagos Warehouse Session
Rather than stopping at the diagnosis, Omah Lay positioned himself as part of the cure. He revealed that he has been closely studying his musical idols and has been working on a sound he believes will push his colleagues to raise their standards and help restore the genre’s global momentum. It was a bold claim, but one very much in keeping with the singer’s growing confidence in his own artistic identity.
That confidence has been on full display in recent days. Speaking on the Nando Leaks podcast earlier this week, Omah Lay went a step further, declaring himself the best Nigerian artist of the last twenty years, placing himself in a category with only one other person.
“I am the best in this, I am the best when you put the whole Afrobeats category. When it comes to the art of making music, I am the best in the last 20 years. The only person I sometimes put myself with is Burna Boy.” — Omah Lay, on Nando Leaks podcast
He also opened up about his personality and his complicated relationship with the Nigerian music scene, describing an industry he loves but finds difficult to navigate socially. “The Nigerian music scene is full of egos. I am a chill guy but I have too much ego. It is hard to make friends like that,” he said, adding that he tries to keep a small, trusted circle.
All of this arrived on the same day Omah Lay dropped Clarity of Mind, his first studio album in four years since his acclaimed debut Boy Alone. The 12-track project is being described as his most personal work yet, an honest and spiritually grounded body of music from an artist who says he has finally found peace with himself.
Whether his music will indeed shift the direction of Afrobeats globally remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Omah Lay is not interested in being quiet about what he believes, about himself or the genre he calls home.
