Omah Lay, I hear you, clearly.
I hear what Omah heard in Elmah. Finally. An artist of that caliber of talent doesn’t just sign any artist, at least not on his first go. He will sign because he sees what can be as great as he sees himself, at least. He will sign a weapon he believes can participate in the fight he has dedicated his life to. He will sign for belief. He will sign for assurance, and for war. When Omah Lay put Elmah on Coping Mechanism, I knew she was special. She had to. She was identified as his next flag bearer, the first person he believes can continue the story of Boy Alone, a summary of his entire life, and doings.
As the Almighty will have it, I was fortunate enough to listen to the record before we all had access to it. I saw how beautiful and rasp she was. I caught on very early to how her voice wrapped around the melodies of the instrumental, and I smiled. She was interesting. She was convincing. She was beautiful, and the uniqueness of her voice assured me that she was something special. I chose to believe, even though I wasn’t fully aware of the why.
Today, I’m back from work, and I feel Jiggy. I’m sitting in my living room with Rötam, and I play the album. He had medicinal leaves, and he made a nicely rolled sacrifice to the gods. I participated in his ritual and proceeded to join in the consumption of the healthy herbal leaves. Then I play Omah’s album.
I have been of the opinion that the album is one of the greatest albums in music history even before it dropped, so I’m not even writing for Clarity of Mind. I’m here solely because of Elmah.
I’m playing the album and Coping Mechanism comes up. As the fan of Omah that I am, i’m trying to explain the genius of the album and Elmah to Rötam, with the “oh listen to this song, she’s one of the next big things in Afrobeats, she sounds so special”, all of that and more. While trying to figure out the best way to describe her. I hear it.
Clarity of Mind official album cover | Photographed by Fifou
I hear Elmah. I hear her music. I hear her song to me. I hear her songs to the world. I hear what convinced Omah to sharpen her sword and show her to his journey in war. I hear her weapon. It’s beautiful. Mesmerising. Captivating. Stunning. And all the words I’d use to describe Joselyn Dumas. I hear many things, like its ability to pierce you as a human and sit right in your underskin, your spirit and soul. It’s garments, and its ability to wrap up every emotion you feel and offer it shelter. I hear it and it’s powerful. It’s dangerously scary and unimaginably attractive. Ye. It’s the kind of thing a Yoruba man would see and say “ah, eleyiii bad o”. Wicked, is what it was, yes.
Like Omah, She sings like she understands you, and she wants to tell your story with melodies. She sings like she’s holding a mic from your perspective. It didn’t matter what she said to me. I believed her. It’s the kind of thing you’d find in Rikila, or in Wande Coal. In Omah, or in 2Baba. There’s conviction in their melodies. There’s sincerity. There’s greatness. There’s something that you believe, and what it’s telling you is that it will never lie to you.
I hear Elmah, and I hear Omah Lay. I hear them clearly. I hear what they want to say to me. I currently have no knowledge of the future, and I intend to watch this one from an outsider perspective. She might end up becoming the greatest, she might not. She might be very successful or not, I don’t know. I only know what I hear, and I believe it. Like I believed so much in Ziyech when my foolish club signed him, till he disappointed me. Like I believed in Wizkid and he showed me why.
Elmah assures me. She offers me safety. She tells me it’s okay to trust her with my emotions. I believe her and I believe in her so much. She answers my question of why someone like Omah Lay who’s heard the best of the music world in the last 6 years. A timeless genius who has come across tons of superstitious talents globally in recent times. Someone’s who has serviced our ears for a while. A human being that is not normal, by the way.
Omah Lay is waging war against a lot of things. Himself, his vices, his women, his opps and the entire industry he has chosen to declare himself better than. He is running a wild race in life. He’s separated himself from everyone since the moment he’s been introduced to us. His alias is Boy Alone. The first person he’s chosen to identify with and believe in is Elmah. I hear him. Omah Lay, whatever happens, I hear you like mad.
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