Branding is an essential element in every artist’s career. It is what informs people’s opinion about you, as opposed to your actual personality. You could call it a CV of some sort for artists and entertainers in general, which serves as a marketing tool for accelerated growth in their career and life.
Over the years, artists have come up with several ways of creating personal brands that have stuck with their audience. From the days of Donjazzy and his favorite walking stick, to recent times with ODUMODUBLVCK and his red traditional hat – branding is and has always been an important element in artistry. Although most of these examples tilt towards fashion items, branding goes beyond tangible items. It could include an artist’s demeanor/persona, and other things that add to the creation and sustenance of the relationship with their fans.
For avid listeners of Nigerian music, the name Yemi Alade doesn’t just sound familiar, but holds a certain level of influence, which becomes evident, when you take a deep dive into her career in the Nigerian music industry. Like most Nigerian artists, she came into limelight with distinguished traits that made her stand out from the rest. For every time you saw her, you saw an amazing vocalist, dancer, and all round performer. She had the right amount of energy, charisma and a high level of intentionality towards the creation of her art.
She was shot into the limelight with the release of Johnny in 2014 and went ahead to release some arguable hits including Taking over me ft. Phyno, Na Gode, Ferrari, and more recently, Shekere ft Angelique Kidjo in 2020.
Although Yemi Alade has continued to release different songs and projects since her last major hit, ‘Shekere’, there has been a bit of decline in her music presence in the afrobeats scene. Yet, she continues to be top of mind when apportioning opportunities for African artists at African/global events. The reason for this is the crux of this article.
You might think for a second, what exactly gives her this edge? What exactly influences The
“Mama Africa” tag? The answer is in her continuous effort at promoting Africanism in all forms. The constant inclusion of African languages in her songs, fashion, dance, and the entire outlook of her brand, which we would discuss in succeeding paragraphs.
Collaboration With Pan-African Artists
One of the things that has made Yemi Alade stand out over the years, is her decision to constantly collaborate with other African artists. This has led to the creation of a larger fan base within the continent, stronger understanding of the music culture of these artists she collaborates with, amongst other perks. She has worked with some of the finest artists across the continent including Angelique Kidjo, R2bees, Diamond Platnumz and a host of other amazing artists, which has given her music easy access into these countries and increased her popularity in Africa and globally.
Fashion
A major aspect of Yemi Alade’s branding is her fashion. This is evident in her African patterned clothes, the style in which they are made, and the use of African accessories. Whether in her music videos, while performing on the stage, or at any given time, she dresses the part. This has strengthened her connection with fans and helped her gain visibility in the eyes of some of the world’s most important people and institutions.
Language Diversity In Her Art
There is hardly any of her songs devoid of a mix of multiple African languages. It could be pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo, Swahili or a mix. Her cordial relationship with African artists over the years and being a product of a multi-ethnic family, led to her mastery of some of these languages, which has given her the opportunity to create beautiful music with them and connect to speakers of these languages. The name “Yemi Alade” in itself is multi-ethnic.
The Result?
Yemi Alade’s branding has opened her up to numerous opportunities locally and globally. This is because her identity is one that preaches Africanism, unity and the appreciation of one’s culture. In 2019, she featured on two tracks off Beyonce‘s album; The Lion King: The Gift, namely Don’t Jealous Me & My Power. This showed how attentive the global audience was, towards artists and their branding. The aim of this album was tailored towards producing a body of work with a good dose of Africanism in it, which Yemi Alade embodies, and it is interesting to see that she was one of the African artists thought of as a good fit for the project.
In 2020, Yemi Alade was invited to the Global Goal: Unite for our future, where she performed alongside global superstars like Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Shakira, Miley Cyrus, amongst others. This was indeed a great experience for her as it was evident that she is a global superstar and one of those at the forefront of African representation. She has won multiple music awards in the course of her life as an artist Such as the AFRIMA Awards, The Headies, a Grammy certificate for her collaboration with Angelique Kidjo, on her Mother Nature album, amongst others. As one of her recent achievements, she was one of artists who performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) together with the Ivorian sensation Jose and Congolese singer Daju.
Chukwuebuka Mgbemena is a writer focused on the Nigerian & African entertainment industry. He loves fashion, art and is a staunch chess player.
