Omah Lay, Shatta Wale, Solis4ever and More on New Music Friday
Some Fridays are very organised. You know exactly what kind of music you are going to get, you know which songs will probably dominate the weekend, and you already have your playlist sorted before lunch.
This is not one of those Fridays.
This week has a little bit of everything. Solis4ever is doing something mischievous with a very familiar pop title. Omah Lay is getting cosy with bees & honey, BEAM and Gyptian. Shatta Wale is, well, being Shatta Wale. Shay Lia and KAYTRANADA are reminding us why they have always sounded so good together, while Tobby BadAss and scottyolorin have given us a song that is literally called an interlude and somehow made us listen to it like it is a full event.
So if you are wondering what deserves a place in your weekend rotation, here are five songs worth hearing.
Solis4ever — “Oops I Did It Again”
The title borrows from Britney Spears, but it feels less like an attempt to recreate the original and more like a wink. You hear the title and already have an idea of the attitude this song is walking in with.
That suits Solis4ever.
The Lagos singer has spent much of her career building a pop universe that doesn’t seem particularly interested in whether people think she is being too soft, too strange or too much. From her early YouTube covers to her work with Odunsi, Stairway To Heaven and the rock-leaning GHOST TOWN EP, she has always seemed comfortable treating pop as something she can play around with.
That makes “Oops I Did It Again” feel quite natural in her catalogue. There is no need for a dramatic announcement about a new era when the title itself is basically admitting, yes, I know I did it again.
That is part of the fun.
Solis4ever has always had a knack for making vulnerability feel styled rather than miserable. Even when she is dealing with heartbreak, there is usually some personality left in the room. “Oops I Did It Again” continues that instinct. It is cheeky without becoming cartoonish, and it has the kind of title that will probably make you curious enough to press play before you have even decided whether you like the song.
This is for the person who knows they probably shouldn’t send that text and is opening the chat anyway.
We are not judging.
Bees & honey, Omah Lay, BEAM, Gyptian — “As We Get High”
There are a lot of names on “As We Get High.” bees & honey, Omah Lay, BEAM and Gyptian is the sort of lineup that could either sound wonderfully chaotic or like four different ideas fighting for three minutes.
Thankfully, it works.
Released on September 1 through Bamboo Artists and produced by Berlin-London collective bees & honey with Kyjani, the song brings together artists from different corners of the African and Caribbean musical conversation. Gyptian’s presence immediately gives the record some dancehall memory, while the production leans into the kind of Afro-house groove that makes the song feel designed for movement.
Then Omah Lay comes in.
The interesting thing about Omah Lay is that he can make a song feel intimate even when the production around him is doing quite a lot. He has that slightly withdrawn quality to his voice, like he is telling you something privately while everyone else is dancing.
That works especially well here.
The lyrics about the table, belle and daily bread bring the song back home. Even the Volkswagen-versus-Mercedes line has that very Nigerian way of turning romance into a practical conversation. Love is lovely, but somebody still has to eat.
Gyptian’s contribution is another reason the record feels familiar almost immediately. The song draws on the language of his 2010 hit “Hold You”, so there is already a memory attached to the groove before you have fully settled into it. It is the musical equivalent of hearing a song at a party and knowing the next part before it arrives.
BEAM helps hold the middle together, too. He has spent the last few years moving between dancehall, trap and more left-field pop sounds, and his presence makes the collaboration feel less like a collection of impressive names and more like an actual record.
That is probably the biggest compliment you can give a song with this many people involved: nobody is fighting for attention.
It is warm, slightly hazy and very easy to sink into.
Put it on in the car at night. Put it on while you are cooking and suddenly decide you are having people over. Put it on when you have absolutely nowhere to be.
Just don’t be surprised if “As We Get High” ends up being the song you play three times.
Tobby BadAss, scottyolorin — “Scotty’s Interlude”
There is something inherently amusing about an interlude being released as a standalone single.
An interlude is usually the bit you discover halfway through an album. It is the breather between the big songs, the strange little detour, the two minutes where the artist gets to do something that doesn’t necessarily need to carry an entire project.
Tobby BadAss has decided that this one deserves to stand on its own.
“Scotty’s Interlude” follows his TWENTIES EP, which included songs like “Jaga Jaga”, “Ski Ski” and “Good Stuff” featuring Minz. scottyolorin also gets billing here, so the title is not just decorative.
There isn’t an enormous amount of information available about the song yet, and that is actually okay.
Not every new release arrives with a five-page explanation of what it means.
Sometimes you can just listen.
And “Scotty’s Interlude” works best when you let it be what it is. There is something appealing about a short record that doesn’t seem desperate to convince you that it is Important. It can just be a moment.
You know those songs you put on while getting dressed, then suddenly realise you have listened to twice because you were not ready to leave that mood yet?
This feels like one of those.
It is the pause in this week’s playlist. And sometimes the pause is exactly what you need.
Shatta Wale — “Catch Me If You Can”
Shatta Wale has never really been someone who worries about whether you understand the assignment.
He gives you the assignment.
“Catch Me If You Can”, released August 30 through Shatta Movement Records, is very much in that spirit.
The song arrives during another busy stretch for Shatta Wale, who has continued to release music at a pace that would probably exhaust several people sharing one Spotify account. This year alone has brought records including “African King” and “The Interface”, and this latest one keeps that momentum going.
Catch me if you can.
Good luck.
What makes Shatta Wale particularly entertaining is how little desperation there is in his confidence.
There are artists who rap about being the biggest person in the room because they need you to believe them. Shatta Wale often sounds like he already forgot there was an argument.
That attitude carries “Catch Me If You Can”.
The record is built for movement, but the real attraction is the personality. You can imagine it playing somewhere in Accra, Lagos or at someone’s house where nobody planned to stay past midnight and everybody is now pretending they never had an early morning.
And this is absolutely one of those songs that can make you feel richer than you are.
For three minutes, you might genuinely believe the money has landed.
Let Shatta Wale have you.
Shay Lia, KAYTRANADA — “So Good”
Some artists collaborate once and move on.
Shay Lia and KAYTRANADA have been doing this long enough that another song together feels less like a reunion and more like checking in with two people who never really stopped talking.
Their musical relationship goes back years. Shay Lia appeared in KAYTRANADA’s early orbit, including his 2013 Boiler Room set, and later became one of the recognisable voices attached to his music through records such as “Leave Me Alone” and “Chances”. Their collaboration continued through projects including FACETS, and now “So Good” adds another chapter.
You can hear that familiarity.
KAYTRANADA’s production has always had a very particular sense of rhythm. His beats don’t simply sit there waiting for a singer to perform on top of them. They move in little ways. There is usually some swing, some space, some tiny rhythmic decision that makes you want to move before you have consciously decided to.
Shay Lia understands that instinct.
She doesn’t try to overpower the production. She sits inside it.
That is one of the reasons their collaborations have worked for so long. It never sounds like a vocalist being placed on a producer’s beat because somebody needed a feature. There is an understanding between them about how much space the song needs.
“So Good” also carries a little bit of nostalgia, especially for anyone who has followed their work together over the years. But it doesn’t feel stuck in the past. It is more like returning to a place you know and finding that the furniture has changed slightly.
And maybe that is why this one feels so easy.
No unnecessary drama. No need to prove that the collaboration is important. Just Shay Lia, KAYTRANADA and a groove that knows exactly what it is doing.
If “As We Get High” is the one for the night out, “So Good” is the one for the ride home.
Or the ride nowhere.
Sometimes you just want the song to make the journey longer.
If you only have time for one song this Friday, start with “As We Get High.” There is enough going on in that collaboration to keep you interested, but it is still ridiculously easy to listen to.
If you need something with a little more chest, Shatta Wale has you covered. Solis4ever brings the mischief, “Scotty’s Interlude” gives you a moment to breathe, and Shay Lia and KAYTRANADA are doing what they have always done best: making a groove you can disappear into.
Different songs, different moods, no particular reason they should all belong on the same Friday playlist:
Which is exactly why they do.
Now press play.
