Yemi Alade

Nigeria has proven itself along the West Coast of Africa as a powerful exporter of pop culture, where musicians such as Fela Kuti and Burna Boy started their careers. Some, such as Yemi Alade, managed to become icons of the entire African continent. It’s not for no reason that Alade, born in 1989, is referred to as »Mama Africa« – she was the only woman to open the Africa Cup of Nations 2024. The nickname is both a reference to the great Miriam Makeba, and it quotes the title of the Nigerian singer’s great breakthrough album. Her song »Johnny«, released in 2014 and until 2017 the most-streamed YouTube music video by an African pop act in Anglophone Africa, was an incredible hit that is still played today at parties. Yemi Alade has always seen herself as a voice of different cultures and regions. Whether in Yoruba, Creole, Igbo and English, the most widely spoken languages in Nigeria, or in French and Swahili, she takes a multilingual approach in her musical messaging: often about female liberation and establishing new role models, pr promoting vaccination during the Covid pandemic. At Pop-Kultur, the singer, global star and a political pop icon will perform with ten dancers and musicians.