Biography

Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), is a Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Her music which incorporates Afro; Highlife, Dancehall, Pop and R&B has been of influence in many African countries and the world as she is acclaimed "Mama Africa" for this and her versatility in using different African languages and attires in her songs and music videos. She sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese. Alade's father was a police commissioner of Yoruba descent, while her mother is of Igbo descent.Alade won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single "Johnny" in 2014. Following the releases of her albums King of Queens and Mama Africa, Alade embarked on world tours consecutively. In 2016, she debuted on Billboard as No 4 on "Next Big Sound" Chart She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively 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, 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.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. 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. 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. In 2022, Yemi Alade bagged a Grammy certificate for of 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. 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".