There Is Something In The Water - Omah Lay, Boy Alone Review
afrobeats album of the year?
There is something in the water.
The theme of water appears eight times in Omah Lay's fantastic debut album 'Boy Alone'. It is no coincidence. There is a reason for this.
In his new album, Omah Lay is restless and suffers from a bout of depression. His wandering soul (which he laments about on 'how to luv' "My body dey for Adamawa...My head e dey for Jigawa) yearns to be at ease.
The 25-year-old singer is from a state (literally) called Rivers in the South-South region of Nigeria. Can water be his salvation, the antidote for his blues?
In the song 'never forget', his waterside upbringing gives him the boldness and courage to go on the road.
"From the slums, I come, Oh, marine* base boy. I know love is war; I know God is God. And I will never stop, 'Til the war is won. Tell the kids unborn and the ones we lost", sings the Ikwerre General to the people in his hometown as he sets out to fight his demons.
In the second verse, he reveals he is hiding scars, "...so I hide my pains, my blow, my misery." The road is Omah Lay's escape mechanism as he points out on the atmospheric 'safe haven' ("If to say no be this road I for don fall for loophole."). His survival kit includes his "Roman Chaplets...sex and all the illegals" to deal with the depression.
Omah Lay's irritation rises to the surface when he reveals that people won't let him do his thing - "Boy allow mе chop my potato, Whether I wash* am, whether I cut am, whether I boil *my potato That is how I like my potassium." He resigns to the fact that he has to allow others to eat from his plate.
Omah Lay tries to find salvation from water on his journey. As he lays his head in a motel, he seeks carnal pleasure. "You know that I like e the wet* panties. The ones from the River Jordan* or an ocean*. The ones from the Atlantis*, wey fit e swallow the owner like Jonah. The girls from the Caribbean Sea*, wey fit e take the boner," he sings on 'bend you' where he flexes his expert penmanship to compose a bawdry ballad.
The highs of sex are only temporary, as we hear in 'temptations' where clouds of marijuana and depression hang above our lonely star on the road to find his cure from depression. The song is a midnight self-confessional blessed with steady knocks.
"How do you love like that? Your eyes no dey dry water*," he observes about his ride or die babe on the BGRZ-produced song. From the thick smokes of Sativa, we see Omah Lay replay the brutal betrayal he suffered from his lover on 'understand.' It's a Samson-Delilah Nollywood reinterpretation.
Lonely, depressed and stripped to his bare essence as a man, Omah Lay takes to alcohol on the confessional ‘i'm a mess.’ It is the best-written song on the LP as Omah Lay admits that despite the fame and money he makes, all he wants is “somebody wey fit watch my shoulders.” It has a spirit-possessed bounce that makes you picture Omah Lay shirtless in front of a river with his eyes closed as he moves to the rhythm of the song and a bottle of Cognac in his hand.
His melancholy makes him beg for an end to the pain. In 'soso', named after a Kalabari girl, he begs her to take his pain away. Once again, Omah Lay invokes the water element as he sings, "Water *no get enemy, 'til you fall for Oshimiri* (River Niger)." With sweet licks of the guitar, a mysterious whistle and a '2 by 2' clap, Omah Lay pleads to be exorcised of his demons.
The album moves to calm waters on 'tell everybody' where Tay Iwar takes the lead- "I used to dream about the storm*, that's why my patience so low (Mm). Crashing her big, big wave*."
The song is cathartic and signifies the restless soul of our boy alone is at ease. On the next track, Omah Lay is rejuvenated. He is aware of himself and his status. He sounds relaxed in 'purple song' where he sings, "you don't go turn the TV on (Oh, oh), and expect me not to be on it." He then says - "Only water fit cool my soul."
Omah Lay has always known who he is, but it was buried deep when dealing with depression. On the album opener 'recognize', he sings, "Only the real fit recognize, oh yeah, oh yeah. Only the ship wey believe e no go capsize*. How you go look me for eye, say me no dey try? (Oh yeah, oh yeah). All of the way from Port Harcourt waterside*."
Even on 'i', he boasts that he "cannot be nobody for life."
'Boy Alone' is a lyrical wonder woven in the mind of one of Afrobeats finest writers. The LP boasts masterful production that enables Omah Lay to surf the high and low tides of his emotions and feelings. It is padded with grace and elegance that allows the storyteller to narrate the tale of a boy alone in a room full of admirers.
The number eight in the Bible represents regeneration, resurrection, a new beginning, and hope. According to Supreme Mathematics of the Nations of Gods and Earths, the number eight also means to build or destroy.
In this album, Omah Lay destroyed himself to build himself back up. ‘Boy Alone’ represents the storm he went through and how he came out on the other side, regenerated. He was resurrected from the deep ocean of depression to have a new beginning.
No words man! What a review!!
Bro you said it best 💜