Yemi Alade
Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), who is better known as Yemi Alade, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress and activist.[1] Her music is a mixture of Afropop, highlife, dancehall, pop and R&B, and has been of influence in several countries across Africa.[2] She sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese.[3]
Yemi Alade
- Singer
- songwriter
Abia State, Nigeria
Ondo State, Nigeria
Vocals
2005–present
- Effyzzie Music Group
- Rebel Movement
- Universal Music Africa
2.23 million
700 million
Alade won the Peak Talent Show in 2009[4] after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single "Johnny" in 2014.[5][6][7][8] Following the releases of her albums King of Queens [9] and Mama Africa, Alade embarked on world tours consecutively.[10] In 2016, she debuted on Billboard as No 4 on "Next Big Sound" Chart[11] She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively[12] and was nominated for Artiste of the Year in 2015, making her the first female to win the MAMAs for Best female consecutively twice and nominated for Artiste of the Year. In 2015, Alade was the first African female to be nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) and she was nominated for the BET awards for Best International Act: Africa in 2015 and 2016. Alade is also applauded for her creative and overwhelming stage performances, fashion and music videos,[13][14][15][16] She has won The Headies Award for Best Performer twice, 2018 and 2019. The slot was initiated at The Headies 2018 and she was the first artiste to win the category.[17][18]
Alade is also the second Nigerian and Afrobeats artist and the first female to hit 100 million views for a single video on YouTube after Davido.[19][20] On 9 June 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the forefront artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world.[21] On 27 June 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle.[22][23][24] In 2022, Yemi Alade bagged a Grammy nomination for her song "Dignity" with Angelique Kidjo. She alongside Kidjo were nominated for the category of Best Song for Social Change Social Merit Award.[25] She likewise has a Grammy certificate for her collaboration with Beninese music icon, Angelique Kidjo on her Mother Nature album. She also is the first afrobeats artiste to get a Latin Grammy nomination for the song "Cónexion Total" with Bomba Estéreo, Both the song and (Deja) the album it featured in was nominated for the awards. In 2022, The Scoove Africa ranked Yemi Alade "The Best Stage Performer in Nigeria" for the year 2022.[26] Emma Dabiri, in an article published on Norient, named Alade as a revolutionary artist "simply rediscovering some of the freedoms to which colonialism and its immediate legacy once barred them access".[27][28]
Yemi Alade has gone on five world tours following her studio albums: