Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), known professionally as Yemi Alade, is a Nigerian Afropop singer and songwriter. She won the Peak Talent Show in 2009, and had a hit with her single "Johnny" in 2014. Her father was a police commissioner of Yoruba descent, while her mother is of Igbo descent.
On June 9 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the fore front artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to tackled the Covid-19 especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world.On June 27 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber and Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle.
2014–2016: King of Queens and Mama Africa
Alade's debut studio album King of Queens was released on October 2, 2014. Alade collaborated with producers such as Selebobo, Sizzle Pro, Shady Bizniz, Philkeyz, Young D, GospelOnDeBeatz, DIL, OJB Jezreel, Mr Chidoo, Fliptyce, EL Mcee and Beat Nation. The album was preceded by the singles "Johnny", "Tangerine" and "Kissing". It features guest appearances and skits from Bovi, R2Bees, Phyno, Chidinma, DIL, Selebobo and Diamond Platnumz. Alade promoted the album by touring several African countries, including Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The album's deluxe edition was released in November 2014; it contains French versions of songs originally performed in English. The cover art for the deluxe edition was unveiled on 21 October 2014. According to the music platform A Nation of Billions, King of Queens sold over 100,000 copies.
Alade's second studio album Mama Africa was released on March 25, 2016. Alade disclosed its title was Mama Africa and said it would focus on the strengths and weaknesses of an African woman. The album combines elements of Afropop, highlife, R&B, coupé-décalé, hip-hop and pop. Alade said recording the album was a struggle because she was constantly traveling to different countries everyday. She also said she recorded the album to "capture all of Africa on one CD". Alade told The Fader magazine she collaborated with artists from West Africa, East Africa and South Africa. She enlisted GospelOnDeBeatz, DJ Coublon, Selebobo, Philkeyz, BeatsByEmzo, Masterkraft, Rotimi Keys and Mr. Chidoo to produce the album. Mama Africa features guest appearances from P-Square, Sarkodie, Sauti Sol, Flavour N'abania, Rotimi Keys, DJ Arafat and Selebobo. It was made available for pre-order on iTunes a week before its official release. Alade announced that proceeds from the sale of the album will go to the Feed a Child charity initiative.The album's deluxe edition was released on April 6, 2016, and features collaborations with South African musicians Bucie and AKA. Mama Africa charted in Germany, Malaysia and France.
2017–2019: Black Magic and Woman of Steel
Alade's third studio album Black Magic was released on December 15, 2017. A follow-up to her 2017 EP Mama Afrique, the album features guest appearances from Falz and Olamide. Black Magic was made available for pre-order in November 2017. Prior to disclosing the album's title, Alade posted the acronym BM on social media and wanted her fans to guess its meaning. The album was produced by DJ Coublon, Vtek, Sarz, Krizbeatz, Young D, Sess, Fliptyce, IAmBeat, Philkeyz, 2Kriss and Echo. It was supported by the previously released singles "Knack Am", "Single & Searching" and "Heart Robber". The album received generally negative reviews from music critics, who panned its lyrics and Alade's songwriting. Prior to that, On May 9 2017, Alade was announced as a coach in the second edition of The Voice Nigeria to replace 2baba who was a former coach on the live show. She coached on The Voice Nigeria (Season 2) alongside other Nigerian artists like Waje, Timi Dakolo and Patoranking.
On December 1 2017, Alade was featured on a campaign "Make The Future" by Shell Oil Company in Nigeria. She was also starred in the company's music video "On Top of the World" which also featured Jennifer Hudson, Pixie Lott, Luan Santana and Monali Thakur.
In July 2019, Alade became the first African female artist to reach one million subscribers on YouTube. Her song "Johnny" currently holds the YouTube record for the most watched African Female music video of all time. Alade was featured on "Don't Jealous Me", a track from Beyoncé's soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift. She appeared on the track alongside Mr Eazi and Tekno. Rolling Stone magazine revealed that Alade also recorded a verse for an earlier version of "My Power" in June.
Alade released her fourth studio album Woman of Steel on August 30, 2019. Alade describes the album as a "buffet with different kinds of meals and drinks". She named the album Woman of Steel to reflect her tough veneer to command the same degree of respect as her male counterparts. Moreover, she derived the title after coming to the realization that she is her own superhero. Musically, Woman of Steel is an Afrobeats record that incorporates elements of R&B and highlife. The album primarily explores topics such as love, socio-politics and poverty. Alade spent three years recording the album and said it would be released on August 30, 2019. The album's cover art features Alade wearing a headcap inspired by the Nefertiti Bust artwork. Artists featured on Woman of Steel include Rick Ross, Duncan Mighty, Angélique Kidjo and Funke Akindele. In an interview with The Star newspaper, Alade said some of the songs that made the album were recorded the previous year while others were recorded in August.
In September 2019, Alade signed a multi-year licensing deal with Universal Music Africa (UMA) and UMG France. UMA will serve as the exclusive worldwide record partner for Alade while UMG France will serve as the international rollout partner for all of her releases under the label.
2020:
Yemi Alade starred on Beyoncé's Black is King visual trailer and was announced to be featured in the movie set to be released and premiered on Disney+ on July 31 2020, then premiered for African countries on DStv Mnet on August 1 2020
