Yemi Alade is a Nigerian afrobeats singer-songwriter who is one of the leading female voices of Mother Afrika. She rose to prominence with “Johnny” in 2013 and keeps making great music and videos. We love her sound, fashion sense, multicultural perspective, and sense of humor.
Yemi Alade in New York City
Sony Hall, Times Square Theater District
Yemi Alade brings her powerful afrobeats to the Blue Note Jazz Festival at Sony Hall in Manhattan’s Times Square Theater District, on Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 9pm. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled. Where’s Yemi? We want Yemi!
New York Venues
- Sony Hall theater in Times Square
Yemi Alade
Yemi Eberechi Alade was born in Abia State, Nigeria on March 13, 1989. She is multicultural with Igbo and Yoruba parents. Her birth region is right near the border of West African and Central African cultures. Yoruba culture is one of the African Diaspora cultures that rooted strongly in the Americas. It has even influenced American popular culture.
Alade sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese. Nigerian Pidgin is a mix of English and Native African languages that is commonly spoken throughout Nigeria. In the Americas, we would call it a Creole or Criollo language. The plasticity of these multicultural languages enables the brilliant poetics of hip hop and reggaeton. Alade takes that multicultural plasticity to another level. Whatever language you speak, she will usually drop one or two words in your language. She’s a woman of the world.
Yemi’s career took hold when she won the televised Peak Talent Show during her college years. Her career took off with “Johnny” in 2014. She has been a coach on “The Voice of Nigeria” television show. Beyonce´’s “Black is King” (2020) brought Alade into the BeyHive. Yemi starred in the trailer and is featured in the movie.
Albums
“King of Queens” (2014) produced the hit “Johnny.” It is one of the most viewed videos by a female African singer of all time.
“Mama Africa” (2016) shows Alade stretching herself into West African, East African, and South African traditions. We call Africa Mother because she is the mother of all humanity. The album won the 2016 Independent Music Award for “World Beat Album.”
“Black Magic” (2017) wasn’t as popular as some of her other work. The title is tricky. We’re fine with it, but some people still carry distorted colonial ideas about the subject. Alade makes great videos. In 2019, the Rick Ross remix of “Oh My Gosh” was viewed over a million times in one day.
“Woman of Steel” (2019) is an afrobeat record about the challenges of succeeding as a woman in a male-dominated industry. She said that to succeed, you need to use both your masculine and feminine sides. That was then, but we think 2024 is the year of women who are doing better creative than most men.
“Empress” (2020) has many great singles.
“Tomorrow,” from her extended play “Mamapiano,” shows the influence of South African amapiano (South African house music from the townships) which is some of our favorite music and dancing now. You can hear the iconic amapiano log drum in it. There is something more to the title. The future belongs to the young, and Mother Afrika is young. There is so much creativity coming from there now. Yemi Alade is a true African Queen at the top of our playlist.
More Information
yemialadeofficial.com
X @yemialadee
Facebook @KingYemiAlade
Instagram @yemialade