Popular Nigerian singer Yemi Alade has reflected on the significant difficulties she encountered early in her career while trying to break into the music industry.
Speaking in a recent podcast, the “Johnny” crooner revealed that sexual harassment was the major challenge, recalling that music executives often harassed her during meetings and studio sessions when she was still a teenager.
“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 s*xual 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.”