Omah Lay’s ‘Boy Alone’ is a commendable debut album [Review]

‘Boy Alone’ is a respectable and commendable debut album and one for the books.

However, Omah Lay needs to be told to cool down because it appears like he has withstood the strain in the album ‘Boy Alone’, the rise of Omah Lay and the drop in the BPM of Nigerian mainstream music happened at the same time.

The Port Harcourt native combines a sensuous voice with a beautiful pen, picture-esque, daring storytelling with casual perspectives on love, romance, and sex, in addition to his youthful good looks.

He would succeed to the hilt using English, pidgin, and Port Harcourt street slang.

With a four-track session on his sophomore EP, What Have We Done, which is highlighted by the moving “Godly,” he furthered his lyrical skill.

After his release from a Ugandan prison, it quickly became the music for “grass to grace” stories. He had arrived, and he promptly provided pan-African hits for Gyakie, Olamide, and Ajebo Hustlers.

Although an eye test could indicate that he had a mixed year in 2021 as a solo artist, statistics indicate otherwise.

But even as he rose to the top of the charts, went on a North American tour, racked up a huge female fan base, and made money, he was also struggling with his issues.

Additionally, it combines dislocation, existential concerns, crippling fears, and escape.

He declares, “From the slums I come,” in the song “Never Forget.” You may feel out of place and experience some existential dilemmas when you come from an uncertain life in the trenches before experiencing a quick turnaround spike in status, prosperity, reverence, and celebrity.

Popular figures like Dennis Rodman have already voiced their displeasure with it, however, Rodman’s complaints were more severe.

Some of those things are the result of uncertainty, while others are brought on by loneliness that can’t be described.

Boy Alone, Omah Lay’s slightly delayed debut album, is the result of these actions and feelings.

It is a brooding, melancholy, and open look into his first two years as a celebrity in Europe, dealing with the expectations that come with it, while also dabbling in frequently disastrous coping strategies.

On “Temptations,” Omah Lay also describes the agonizing gap between being away from the security of family and the difficulties to maintain one’s sense of reality while being confronted with seductive impulses.

One of such albums is “Boy Alone” On first listen, you might find it difficult to be satisfied with some instances of poor production, but you won’t ever miss the richness of Omah Lay’s honest, spooky, and sympathetic songwriting, which is the foundation of this album’s genius.

Omah Lay seems to have purposefully used basic production on songs like “Recognize” and “I’m A Mess” so that his message wouldn’t be overshadowed.

Arrangement

The album’s tracklist outlines the progression of Omah Lay’s story, with the exception of the placement of “Tell Everybody,” which should have appeared after “Attention,” before “How To Love,” “Soso,” and “The Purple Song.”

The first two songs on “Boy Alone” describe his upbringing in Port Harcourt and express his wish to avoid being “a nobody for life.”

Then, the next two songs cinematically act as the outcome of his resolution on “I,” on which he is now prosperous and taking use of fame’s rewards.

Omah Lay chronicles sexual gynaecology in ‘Bend You,’ which is like the T-1000 version of ‘Ye Ye,’ in such detail that “her face and her leg dey quiver like say she got epilepsy.”

One can only speculate about the kind of sex Omah Lay engages in to produce music of this calibre.

 

Ratings:

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Mid = 0.00

Average = 0.01

Good = 2.5

Excellent = 2.5

Conclusion:

Mp3bullet gives the EP an 80% (Good) general rating