Friday, November 21, 2025 - Nigerian singer Yemi Alade has opened up about the challenges she faced during her early years as a young, struggling female artiste.
The Johnny crooner revealed that sexual harassment was the
major challenge she confronted, recalling how music executives often harassed
her during meetings and studio sessions while she was still a teenager.
Speaking in a recent episode of the Swift Conversations
podcast, Alade said, “In those beginning days, all I thought I needed was just
my talent because that’s what I have. I didn’t have a bank account full of
money I could use to sponsor myself.
“I just had a talent and a zeal, and a promise that I made
to myself and a promise I believed God made to me. So, I always tried to show
up. I was told that I needed to work harder and so I worked harder, and it
wasn’t enough. There were doors I needed to walk up to and when I walked up to
the doors, they didn’t want my talent, they wanted something else.
“Many times from business meetings to studio sessions to
even winning certain awards and you meet maybe the managing director or any
other executive and they are trying to rub your thighs under the table. And I
was just a teen. My grand pa is rubbing my legs and I can’t speak because I’m
in shock.
“We are having an actual business meeting. Why are you
rubbing my thighs? I had to speak to myself and decided if music was what I
wanted to do because the sexual harassment was becoming too rampant. But
something in me told me to keep pushing my talent. So, I still showed up. If
door was left open for me, I would walk in. If it was shut in my face, I would
walk away.”
The singer said she became successful in the music industry
after she realised that she “needed to stop walking through the doors and start
breaking down the walls.”
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