Singer Yemi Alade reveals why she chose her birth name over stage name

• Yemi Alade has explained why she chose to keep her birth name instead of adopting a stage name

• The singer revealed that she considered the names "Electra" and "Ginger" before deciding to retain her birth name

•  Alade said she began translating her songs into French, Swahili, and Portuguese to appreciate fans across Africa who supported her despite language barriers.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC, the singer revealed that she deliberately avoided names that would make her too predictable. She explained she wanted people to be curious about who she was before hearing her music.

“One of the names that I had played with in my early days was Electra, but I changed my mind because I felt that the minute you hear Electra, you already expect me to be electrifying, and I didn’t want people to see me coming or overexpect. I wanted them not to know what’s coming, and then I tried another name, Ginger, but the problem is, in Nigeria, when you say ginger, it means energy, and I’m just telling everybody who I am before they meet me.”

She said she eventually turned to God for direction and decided to embrace the meaning behind her birth name.

“I had a moment where I just sat on the idea, and I honestly just reached out to God and just asked, 'Please lead me,' and the reckoning that came to me was that I needed to stick to my birth name because it had a huge meaning behind it. Opeyemi means 'thanks be to God,' and Alade means 'the one who holds the crown.' I feel like that embodies who I am, so I held on to it.”

Alade also revealed that her decision to translate her music into other African languages was inspired by the overwhelming support she received from fans across the continent, even when they did not speak English or her native languages.

“The first language I translated my music into was French, and it was born out of curiosity. I felt a very strong connection with many French-speaking African fans when I saw them in the front row of my concerts, singing my songs even though they didn’t speak English or any of my native languages. So I thought to myself, why don’t I do something very dear to them and show them I truly love them? That’s where my desire to start translating my music came from. I later went on to translate my music into Swahili and Portuguese.”

The award-winning singer also noted that while the music industry has become more accommodating for women, female artistes still have to keep pushing for greater representation.

According to her, the industry is not necessarily easier for women today, but people have become more accepting. She stated that women need to continue coming out in their thousands and millions to occupy more space.