Omah Lay is making waves and making a huge impact in the Afrobeats genre. The singer shares his story of “shock” behind his latest single, working with Tyla and Justin Bieber and how his move to London from Lagos further contributed to the vision. He also talks about his new album, ‘Clarity of Mind’, what he hopes his fans can learn from the album and more.
Tetris Kelly:
Hey, this is Tetris with Billboard News and I'm hanging out with Omah Lay. How's it going, buddy?
Omah Lay:
I'm fine, everything is fine, how are you?
I'm fine. I have to say that I congratulate you on the new single, “Moving.” Tell me about this song and what was your inspiration.
“Moving” is the second single from my upcoming project. It’s all inspired by moving to a new place. I haven’t actually spent much time in Lagos lately. I’ve been spending a lot of time in London, especially making the album. It’s just a new environment being able to move from place to place, being your police.
Tell me a little bit about the music video for the song. How involved were you in the visual aspect and what kind of story did you want to tell?
Lately, I've been putting a lot of emphasis on telling the story of my music through music videos. In the case of “Moving,” I'm telling the story of how illegal immigrants travel to Europe through the desert, through the Sahara, because Nigerians from Edo travel, they try to get to Europe illegally and they go through the desert, and a lot of them don't make it. So yeah, that was the story. That was what inspired the video for “Moving.”
Oh man, that's amazing now. I like that, you can take your life experience and apply it to something else that's from your region, something that gives you that history.
I mean, I think it is, if it is anything, it is everyone’s story, like me, also having a Nigerian passport is very difficult. Travelling anywhere, it’s like, I’m just looking for peace. I’m looking for a place to call, of course, I have my home, but it’s like, you know, I’m just looking for that place where I feel accepted and stuff, because home is really bad where we can’t stay at home and enjoy the common things that are provided to us even by God, nature, which is like being able to live freely. It’s hard in Lagos, so I feel like I’m telling everyone’s story, where everyone is looking for a place where they can find peace of mind, a place to just call home and feel relaxed.
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