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We’re not saying you shouldn’t trust the love of your life, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Why take your partner to a concert that might lead to the untimely death of your relationship when you can just go see these artists in peace?
Portable
You, your beau and the entire crowd will be too busy shouting “zazu” and “ita” for the possibility of jumping on stage and getting close and personal with Portable to ever cross anyone’s mind.
Johnny Drille
The only thing that’ll happen at Johnny’s concert is that you and your partner will fall harder for each other. No deep eye contact with your beau as he sings, no shouting yellow, and definitely, no “bending.”
Adekunle Gold
AG baby can tell us he’s still our baby as many times as he wants, but we all know deep down that he’s actually Simisola’s baby. There’s a higher chance of him singing and dancing to her on stage than anyone from the audience, so your relationship is in good hands.
Tems
The only thing Temilade wants to do onstage is sing about her love life and warn people not to try her. She already has dancers, so she won’t need additional help from the audience, we promise.
Yemi Alade
Mama Africa is there to make sure you have a good time. She might call you on stage, but it’ll most likely be to have a dance-off and not seduce the LOYL.
Timi Dakolo
All you’ll do at a Timi Dakolo concert is fall deeper in love with each other while getting inspiration for your relationship as you both listen to him sing about how much he loves his wife.
Simi
Unless you or your partner’s name is Adekunle Gold, there’s a zero percent chance Simisola will ask you to grace the stage with her.
ShowDemCamp
They might ask your partner to come up if their birthday is near, but you’re still safe because all they’ll do is make them feel special. However, if your partner has a crush on them, that’s a story for another day.
What makes a sad song sad? Is it lyrics about heartbreak and pain like P-Square’s Omoge Mi or slow-tempo productions like Darey Art Alade’s Not The Girl? If you said both, then you’re absolutely correct.
Men making sad boy music has been a thing for a long time, but there’s something about 2022’s releases that’s been overwhelmingly sad… but still danceable.
Burna Boy
“E don cast. Last last, na everybody go chop breakfast,” from Burna Boy’s Last Last has soundtracked everything from weddings to sold-out concerts this year. Reminiscent of his 2018 hit, Ye, Last Last has become an anthem everyone is obsessed with. But the truth is, we’ve turned two of Odogwu’s darkest periods into club songs sung over red cups and shisha.
Last Last allegedly talks about Burna Boy’s break up with British rapper, Stefflon Don: “Maybe another time, maybe another life, you’d be wife, and we’d get it right”, and an accident he had in February 2022: “Now, you crash your Ferrari for Lekki, Burna. Na small thing remain, could’ve been all over”. Taking a break from ego-fueled hits, Burna Boy leaned into his vulnerable side for this song, and it totally paid off.
But Last Last isn’t the only sad song on his album, Love Damini. Despite the misleading dance beat, Burna wonders if anything he does will ever be enough on It’s Plenty. He sings about his struggles with mental health and coming out of a bad place on How Bad Could It Be? And on the album’s outro, Love Damini, he goes into full self-drag mode, talking about his anger issues and not reaching out to the people in his life.
With songs like these, Love Damini may just be Burna’s most personal album yet, and the record that started this year’s sad boy era of music.
Unlike baking banana bread and wearing face masks, Omah Lay’s music is one thing we’ve not shaken off since the Covid-19-induced lockdown of 2020.
With a fresh trap and R&B-influenced sound, Omah Lay’s Get Layd EP and singles, Bad Influence and Damn made him a household name in the same year artists like Wizkid, Tiwa Savage and Burna Boy all dropped career-defining albums. While his EP revealed an artist deeply connected to his emotions, it wasn’t until 2021’s Understand with lyrics like: “I thought we in this together. Give you my necklace pendant. Give you my last card, you spend am. I show you my best friend, you friend am,” that shit started to get real.
By the time his debut album, Boy Alone (omo, even the title says it all), dropped, it was clear Omah Lay was in his full emo phase.
The album’s opening track, Recognize, finds Omah Lay trying to convince himself he’s made for fame. Alcohol, as a tool to escape imposter syndrome and loneliness, is the theme of I’m a Mess. And by the time the album’s closer, Purple Song, rolls out, Omah Lay has gone through the motions of heartbreak, loss and redemption in under 40 minutes.
Closing out sad boy era, for now, is one of the alté scene’s secret weapons, Yinka Bernie.
Probably one of the most vulnerable projects on this list (and of the year), Yinka Bernie’s Something New EP is introspective and deeply moving. There’s something soothing about his vocals and melody that makes you feel his every emotion on that song even before you really understand the lyrics.
Opening with Who Do You Call?, Yinka asks the question over and over again, as if waiting for you to provide a clear answer, before ending with “You can call me.” In a time when we’re interrogating who men talk to when times get rough, this song feels very apt and necessary.
Closing out the 12-minute EP, Yinka Bernie reminds us It’s Okay to Cry,with backing vocals from Joyce Olong. This song is where Yinka is most vulnerable, singing lines like: “Every time I think about death, I drown. You see your friends progress while you stuck”. Despite being so raw with his fears and doubts, Yinka manages to make the song calming and reassuring for his listeners. When he ends the song with “Breathe in. Breathe out,” you almost find yourself following his instructions.
We need more sad boy music
As someone who thrives on sad music, I enjoyed these albums and appreciated the artists’ decision to be as vulnerable as possible. Listening to these songs is like reading entries from their diaries.
With 2022 coming to an end, I’m hopeful for some more sad boy music. No, I’m not a masochist. I just enjoy being in my feelings, no matter how dark they are.
We will remember 2020 for many things: a scary pandemic, a global shutdown in response to said pandemic, the rise and fall of the Houseparty app and, for music lovers, the surprise takeover of Omah Lay.
Armed with kickass melodies, relaxing mid-tempo production and romantic declarations like, “You don burst my eyeglass”, Omah Lay quickly became the year’s breakout artist. And in the same year big shots like Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage and Olamide all dropped well-received albums, Omah Lay somehow managed to remain a major fixture in the musical conversation.
His debut EP, Get Layd,was a significant departure from what Nigerians were used to at the time. Carefully blending R&B and Afropop, Omah Lay wasn’t singing about shutting the club down or living his best life. Instead, he delved into honest conversations about love and sex. And with everyone stuck at home trying to figure life out, the EP felt like the comfort music we needed at the time. A classic case of the right time and place.
Unlike most of the habits we picked up during the pandemic (Is anyone still baking Banana bread every day?), Omah Lay’s music is one thing we haven’t been able to shake off. His second EP, What Have We Done, gave us the reflective Godly and Can’t Relate, as well as a fitting remix to Damn alongside 6LACK. Features with Olamide and Ajebo Hustlers followed, further cementing his position as a hitmaker.
In all of this, Omah Lay has maintained a narrative of longing. He’s either longing for love on songs like Bad Influence, for understanding on songs like Can’t Relate, reciprocated feelings on Attention, closure onUnderstand or peace of mind on Godly.
Can Omah Lay maintain this emo boy narrative with the world back on the dancefloor? But most importantly, will it slap like it did two years ago?
The Breakdown
Omah Lay sets the stage with the album’s opening tracks, Recognize and I, in which he tries to convince his listeners he’s destined for greatness (although a part of me feels he’s trying to convince himself). The introspective tracks are followed by the sex-driven Bend You and the early single, Woman. On the Blaqbonez-esque Bend You, Omah Lay gets pornhub-level graphic, talking about all the ways he could make his girl “shake like say she get epilepsy”. While Woman also involves some backbreaking, there’s a promise of romance and a possible pregnancy since he has no plan of pulling out.
EmoLay (Emotional Omah Lay, get it?) makes a comeback to talk about using alcohol to escape imposter syndrome and loneliness on I’m A Mess, before admitting to another escapist vice, marijuana, on the reflective Temptation. He, however, finds himself, and some solace, on Never Forget and Safe Haven.
We finally get to vibe on Soso and How To Luv, which has a sprinkle of amapiano and lyrics that shout Kcee out for singing Limpopo. Omah Lay calls on Tay Iwar to assist him to the finish line with Tell Everybody, a song that successfully straddles the line between seduction and emotional yearnings. It might not get the love it deserves now, but best believe Tell Everybody is bound to be a fave after several listens.
After an emotional rollercoaster, Purple Song closes the 14-track album that still ends up with a run time of less than 40 minutes. It feels right to end this way as Omah Lay sings about not letting his love go no matter what. While the song sounds like an ode to a love interest on first listen, it’s better to picture it as Omah Lay’s love letter to music.
Final Thoughts
Omah Lay has always been honest with his music, but Boy Alone finds the Port Harcourt native digging deeper than he’s ever done before. His ability to create melodies and laidback music while addressing heartbreak, longing and loss sets him apart from most of his peers today.
While the production feels monotonous and makes the album sound like one long song sometimes, Omah Lay’s lyrics get the MVP title for deftly sharing stories that feel authentic to who he is. On Boy Alone, nothing feels contrived or made up. You can vibe all you want, but last last, you’ll listen to Omah Lay’s story.
Unlike most of us, talented newcomer Omah Lay is having a truly remarkable 2020. He dropped his stellar EP, Get Layd earlier this year and hasn’t looked back since.
The 5-song, 14-minute EP is currently the fifth most-streamed Nigerian album on Spotify worldwide this year, up there with massive stars like Wizkid, Tiwa Savage and 2Baba.
If you haven’t listened to it yet, you’re wrong.
There’s no doubt that the international community also digs Omah Lay’s music. Last month, Borussia Dortmund superstar, Jadon Sancho was live with his friends when he played “Bad Influence”, arguably the most popular song on the album, to get their reactions.
Yesterday, Omah Lay tweeted that he would be dropping a remix of “Damn”, featuring popular American rapper, singer, and songwriter, 6lack (It’s pronounced ‘Black’. I don’t know why he’s stressing us).
The song dropped at exactly midnight — take notes, Wizkid — and honestly, it’s a jam. In his regular singing style, 6lack dropped a verse right in the middle of the song and it seems the song we thought couldn’t get any better, just did.
6lack is not the only big name artist that Omah Lay has collaborated with this year. Earlier this year, DJ Tunez released “PAMI” with him, Wizkid and Adekunle Gold, and more recently, Olamide enlisted him for his Carpe Diem album.
Omah Lay is definitely in the group of young Nigerian musicians taking our music across the globe, and we can’t just help but stan.
There’s so much music out there that it’s hard for even the most loyal fans to stay up with their favourite artists or what’s new and hot right now. That’s why we’ve created #BumpThis – a daily series that features the one song you need to listen to, every day. Don’t say we never did anything for you.
Crayon- Do Me
Mavin’s talented artist, Crayon has once again showed just how talented he is with his new single, “Do Me”. Nice, progressive love song about he’d jealously guard his babe through thick and thin. Fire.
Fireboy DML- Tattoo
Whoa…Fireboy released this single with a Clarence Peters directed video, and if you’re going to watch it, you should be ready for some R-rated scenes. Overall, it’s a colorful video with a song that can definitely be put on repeat. Just like a lot of Fireboy’s music.
DJ Tunez ft. Wizkid, Adekunle Gold and Omah Lay-Pami
When you see Adekunle Gold, Omah Lay and Wizkid on a song, you already know it’s going to be fire. It’s even better because there was no warning. The song just dropped. You should definitely bump this.
