I Didn’t Use To Have Money For Studio Sessions – Yemi Alade

Nigerian singer, Yemi Alade in an interview on
urban Lagos radio station, Beat FM, today
explained she didn’t always have money for
recording sessions at the studio.
According to her,
“It wasn’t easy in the beginning. I performed at
over 300 free shows before I became this big. I
didn’t use to have money for studio sessions. It
was that bad.”

She also talked about fans and how much love
she has received at performances around the
world.
According to her, the most reception was from a crowd in London:

“My biggest stage so far has been at a
performance in London. I saw a sea of people up
there at Wembley, London.
It was deep. I was shaking. In fact my soul was
doing ‘alanta ‘ (a popular Nigerian dance). That
has been my biggest stage so far for the English-
speaking audience.
Non-English fans also blow me away. They
probably don’t know what’s happening [but
they sing and dance along regardless].
Sometimes I go online and see Asians dancing to
Johnny. They dunno what’s going on in the song
but they are killing it.
Swahili-speaking fans are great too. I remember
one experience when Tanzanian fans were
waiting for me cuz I flew overnight and so I got
in late. So they started booing me when I got on
stage. But as soon as the music started playing,
they started showing me love.”
In response to what inspires her and her
strengths, she answered:

“A lot of things. My environment, mom, family,
experiences, the people I relate with, and all of
that. My strength lies in the ability to continue
being original with my sounds.”
She also sent a message to her fans and all those
aspiring to make it in various endeavours
saying:
“You need to get the point where you want to
give up then look back and turn everything
around by pushing harder. It was a crazy
experience for me before fame came. Then my
management said to me ‘you mean you have
done this for so long only to quit?’ after listening
to this I reached deep and got my passion to
continue.
You see, it’s very easy to get that hit song and
relax so it’s very important to find that inner
drive that gets you going, that way you stay
focused.

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