Watch Omah Lay’s Tiny Desk concert

Tiny Desk features a series of live performances from the Washington, D.C. working space of Bob Boilen, a musician and NPR broadcaster.

Omah Lay joins a growing list of top African artists who have graced the popular Tiny Desk stage. Notable among them are fellow Nigerians Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Fireboy DML and Adekunle Gold. In September, Beninese music legend Angélique Kidjo also appeared on the platform, marking the show's 1000th performance.

Signed to KeyQaad, Omah Lay’s sound is inspired largely by percussion-heavy highlife and Afro-fusion. His stripped-down Tiny Desk setlist includes renditions of ‘Bad Influence’, ’I’m a Mess’, ‘Soso’, ‘Never Forget’ and a medley of popular singles ‘Infinity’, ‘Bend You’ and ‘Understand’.

He is backed by The Raw Soundz from Ghana, consisting of Ernest ‘Subroza’ Osei-Bonsu on guitar, Donald Crentsil on keys, Kwabena Kyeremeh Adade on drums, Leroy ‘Boogie’ Greer on drums, Steve Millar on bass, Domo Abrams on vocals and Monet Shelton on vocals.

“Omah Lay brought a calm demeanour and a bright smile to his time at NPR headquarters,” NPR’s Bobby Carter said. “By the third song of his Tiny Desk concert, ‘Soso’, I realised that the Nigerian star was exercising lots of emotions through this set.”