Encomium
One of Africa’s top female acts: Yemi Alade (Nigeria) of the “Johnny” hit fame returns to Coke Studio Africa this year for her fourth time, paired with French rapper of Congolese origin: Youssoupha Mabiki of the “Entourage” mega hit. The two are expected to produce an original song, among music covers and fusions produced by Ghanaian heavyweight music producer Killbeatz, who recently co-produced Ed Sheeran’s mega hit “Bibia Be Yeye.”
Yemi Alade spoke on her return on the show in Nairobi during the recording, expressing her excitement on the return: “It’s always a nice fun and loving experience because I get to meet a lot of artists as well. Shout out to the crew!” Yemi has been on a successful American tour for the last couple of months. However, it’s not all showbiz for Yemi. She also expressed her interest to support any charity and cause for children and widows. “When it comes to education and clothing, I will do the best I can for children. I am also passionate to work with widows as many people don’t remember them. I am always there for pep talks, seminars and ready to give my advice.”
Last year on the show, Yemi was paired with Kenyan multi-talented artist Nyashinski and produced by Nigerian music producer: Chopstix. Her cover of Nyashinski’s hit song “Mungu Pekee” was one of the show’s Most Loved covers of all time. Yemi has since featured Nyashinski in her new Swahili song “Nakupenda” off her recently released new “Mama Afrique” EP, which features song remixes and different versions of her mega hits. The two recorded “Nakupenda” right after their Coke Studio stint. Another mega Yemi collabo that was cooked at Coke Studio Africa was “Africa” which she recorded with Africa’s Best Group Sauti Sol (Kenya) during their pairing on the show’s third season. After that, Bien of Sauti Sol wrote her the Swahili version of her biggest East African release – “Nagode”. These collabos reiterate Coke Studio’s mission of promoting culture exchange by uniting artists from different genres, eras and regions to create a modern and authentic African sound through music fusion.
