Afrobeat singer and songwriter Yemi Alade has opened up about her experience as an upcoming female artist that has to do with sexual harassment.
The female artist revealed this in an interview on Swift Conversation. Yemi Alade revealed that she has had multiple sexual harassments from various music executives, mostly during studio sessions and meetings.
She further revealed that she was subjected to inappropriate touching and advances from older men who are in positions of power. She also recounted when a managing director harassed her by touching under her thighs during a meeting.
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 grandpa 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 decide 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 stated that the experience made her strong and built her up as she realised the need to take charge of her own destiny and music career and “stop walking through the doors” and instead “break down the walls” that stood in her way.
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