Nigerian music star Yemi Alade has spoken candidly about the harassment she endured as a teenage artiste trying to break into the industry, revealing that several music executives attempted to take advantage of her during what were supposed to be professional meetings, Okay News reports.
Alade shared the experience on the latest episode of the Swift Conversations podcast, reflecting on the difficult early years before fame.
She said she assumed that talent alone was enough to open doors, only to discover that many of the “gatekeepers” she approached were more interested in exploiting her than supporting her career.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
The award-winning singer recalled deeply unsettling encounters with music executives at studios, award events, and supposed business meetings.
“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?”
Alade said the pattern became so frequent that she began questioning whether she wanted to remain in the music industry at all.
“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 a door was left open for me, I would walk in. If it was shut in my face, I would walk away.”
She added that her real breakthrough came when she stopped waiting for permission or validation from those in power.
According to her, true career progress began the moment she realised she “needed to stop walking through the doors and start breaking down the walls.”
Alade, widely regarded as one of Africa’s biggest female artistes, is known for hit songs like “Johnny,” “Tangerine,” and “Oh My Gosh.”
