Yemi Alade Opens Up on Sexual Harassment During Early Music Career
Afrobeats star Yemi Alade has spoken candidly about her experiences with sexual harassment during her early days as a struggling female artiste.
Speaking on the Swift Conversations podcast, Alade revealed that she frequently faced inappropriate advances from music executives, often during business meetings and studio sessions, which at times made her question her decision to pursue a career in music.
The singer recounted distressing incidents, including being subjected to unwanted touching by older men in positions of power.
In one particularly alarming episode, she said a managing director rubbed her thighs under the table during a meeting, highlighting the pervasive challenges faced by women trying to break into the industry.
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.”
She explained that these experiences became a turning point, prompting her to take control of her own destiny, choosing no longer to “walk through the doors” but instead to “break down the walls” blocking her path.
