Experience that Exposed Me to Industry’s Harshness Towards Women - Yemi Alade

It is not news today that in the music industry, especially in Nigeria, it is harder for women than it is for men. This is an opinion that has been echoed by both men and women in the music industry, but still everytime a person says it, people roll their eyes and say that it's exaggerated, or there's no evidence to back it. Now, during a new interview with The Beat 99.9FM, singer Yemi Alade is sharing her own experience of unfair treatment in the music industry, simply because she's a woman. Here is what Yemi had to say about her experience.

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Speaking about experiences in the music industry that have exposed her to the unfair treatment women have to face, Yemi Alade said:

YEMI ALADE: I've come to understand that it is a difficult road for female musicians. It's difficult for guys too oh, don't get it wrong. Guys are dealing, they are a dime a dozen. So for us. But we have unwritten challenges. People want us to prove ourselves two hundred times over even when we have the biggest lead single.

Let's take for instance there was a time when I had a lead single. I was still coming up. I had a lead single and another guy had a lead single, and his lead single wasn't even up to fifty percent of mine in terms of the reach the song had had. But he was still given preference over me. They didn't want to pay me. They said "which other song does she have?" and the other guy sef no get any other song, he just dey try. But my own was cut throat that I had to prove myself. My manager had to jack his trouser! If he did not jack his trouser, I won't have seen 2 kobo that day.

But I had performed at over five hundred free shows, and I was still going for the free shows. I had both a name and there was talk around town that Yemi is such a fantastic stage performer, but nobody was willing to cut 5 naira, any cheque, for this girl. But my fellow guys who didn't have up to that, they were getting paid.

So those difficulties are the things that I have overcome and I always say t0 my fellow woman, let's stop being the victims. It's already a man's world, let's deal with that. All we just have to do is show up and show out. And that's what I've been operating with. Show up, show out. Let the talk about you be great and bigger than any bad talk anybody has to say about you.

Wow! What do you think about Yemi's story and what she had to say, and what she went through? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

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