Despite having no full-length project to his name yet, Nigerian singer/songwriter and producer Omah Lay has amassed over 100 million streams on Spotify. The 24-year-old hitmaker has a proven formula, one that starts with a piece of equipment that many songwriters have left behind.

"When you talk about…the process of making music, writing and singing, my favorite piece of equipment is my notepad," Lay tells GRAMMY.com. "Writing with my phone, I only write down the right [lyrics], but with a notepad, I can jot down the ones that don't make sense and then later I can use it for another song."

Watch one of Africa's brightest rising stars detail his unique writing process in this episode of It Goes To 11.

Omah Lay's pen-and-paper songwriting technique continues to prove successful, as "Understand" is his best-performing track to date. The 2021 track has racked up over 34 million views on YouTube and 20 million streams on Spotify.

Make sure to check back every Wednesday for new episodes of It Goes To 11.

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