Photography by Marquis Perkins.
Yemi Alade has always been a seeker. Growing up in Nigeria, moving from city to city wherever her late father, a police commissioner, was stationed, she had questions—about life, purpose, and where she fit in. But answers were always hard to come by. And when she stepped into music, the industry only gave her more. “The industry is very fickle,” she tells OkayAfrica in her latest cover interview. “And unfortunately, if you ask the wrong person the right questions, you get the wrong answers.”
So, instead of looking outward, Alade turned inward. Her mother’s advice stayed with her: take the questions higher up. “She told me to always try my best to renew my relationship with God,” she says. “So, I take those questions to God. And I still look out for my answers.”
One of those answers came last November, when she received her first-ever Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance. Even with seven albums, millions of fans, and over a decade of global success, she had begun questioning her next steps. “The day the nomination was announced, I cried my eyes out,” she recalls. “It came at the right time for me. I had just asked God to tell me what to do. I needed clarity. And there you go: a response from the Universe.”
The moment was significant—not just for her, but for African music as a whole. Unlike many artists riding the global Afrobeats wave, Alade isn’t backed by a major Western label. She earned her Grammy nod for Tomorrow—a song with no international collaborations, no industry gimmicks, just pure, authentic artistry. “A lot of people do not believe that being culturally in sync with your culture can still take you global,” she says. But she’s living proof that it can.
This isn’t the first time Alade has had to fight for her place. When she first started, the critics came hard—mocking her lyrics, dismissing her sound. She noticed how male artists weren’t scrutinized the same way. But instead of bending to industry pressures, she doubled down on what made her unique. “Despite what the world wanted from me—to dress more Western, sing more R&B, forget what Afrobeats is—I stood my ground,” she says. “It was difficult, very difficult, because it is the path that isn’t traveled a lot.”
That defiance has made her a blueprint for the new wave of African female artists—Tems, Ayra Starr, Tyla, Gyakie—who are now thriving on the global stage. “People didn’t expect me to stick around,” she admits. “But now, more African women are finding recognition and staying power in mainstream music. I just love to see it.”
Even after years of breaking barriers, she still faces industry bias. In 2024, she revealed that Nigerian radio station Cool FM blacklisted her for skipping an event—something that rarely happens to male artists. She’s also noticed how men in the industry get celebrated more frequently, while she’s often overlooked. But she no longer seeks validation. “If the world is coming down on me, making accusations, throwing opinions in my face, I’ll ask myself: is it true? And if it is not true, then I do not care.”
Yemi Alade has built her career on intuition, culture, and an unwavering belief in herself. She’s blended Afrobeats with highlife, amapiano, reggae, and gospel. She’s sung in Yoruba, Igbo, French, and Swahili. And through it all, she’s stayed true to her purpose—to create, not conform.
Now, as she stands on the cusp of a potential Grammy win, the questions aren’t just coming from her. Her mother has one too. “For over four or five years, my mom has asked me, ‘Where is my Grammy?’”
This time, Alade just might have the answer.
Read the full story here.
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Photographer: Marquis Perkins @marquisperkins
Stylist: Arnold Milfort @arnoldmilfort
Hair team: Hair by Susy @hairbysusy
Lead hair stylist: Kathy Clarke @iamqueensarah7
Hair assistant: Theliah Hutson @theliahstouch
Lighting tech: J Pierre Bonnet @jpierrebonnet
Photography assistant: Sarah Schneider @SarahbSchneider
Makeup: Brittany Whitfield @brittywhitfield
English