Yemi Alade has never sounded like an artist interested in staying in one lane, and It’s Yemi Alade, her seventh studio album, is another reminder of just how much room she has created for herself within African pop. Across 15 tracks, the Nigerian superstar looks back at the sounds and experiences that shaped her while giving herself the freedom to reinterpret them through the artist she is today.
The album feels rooted without becoming overly nostalgic. Highlife sits at its foundation, but Yemi allows afrobeat, Afropop, disco, and house to move in and out of the picture, creating a project that feels both familiar and exploratory. It is less about recreating the past than understanding what can still be taken from it and transformed into something new.
That idea becomes especially clear in the way Yemi approaches the album’s storytelling. It’s Yemi Alade that feels personal without becoming inaccessible, with love, life, resilience, identity, gratitude, and spirituality appearing as recurring threads. She has described the project as her “diary of melodies,” and that description fits. Each song feels like it is documenting a different mood or moment rather than trying to force the entire album into one emotional space.
There is plenty of joy here too. “Minister Of Enjoyment” embraces the celebratory side of Yemi’s personality, while “Ala Bekee” brings a highlife-inspired energy to her collaboration with Don Jazzy. The record has an easy sense of movement, showing that returning to one’s roots does not necessarily mean becoming musically conservative.
Elsewhere, Yemi allows the album to become more intimate. “Little Kiss (E Good)” and “Titanium” sit within the project’s more reflective territory, while “Worry” featuring FAVE adds another emotional shade to the collection. “Away” with Teni and “Yemi Mi Lova” featuring Spyro further expand the album’s romantic and melodic side.
The collaborative choices are one of the project’s strongest features. Instead of relying on a single regional sound, Yemi brings together artists from across Africa, including Kenya’s Bien, Njerae and Sofiya Nzau, Nigerian acts Don Jazzy, Teni, FAVE, Spyro and Jeriq, alongside Congolese stars Ferre Gola and Singuila.
That pan-African approach gives the album a wider sense of identity. The collaborations do not simply feel like additions designed to increase the tracklist’s star power. They help Yemi explore different musical textures and perspectives while maintaining her own presence at the centre.
“Don’t Be Shy” featuring Bien is a particularly strong example of that chemistry. The song carries an easy, infectious quality while allowing both artists to complement each other’s energy. Its viral reception makes sense because it has the kind of immediacy that can work both as a casual listen and as a song built for repeat plays.
Then there is “Ala Bekee,” where Don Jazzy helps Yemi lean further into the highlife side of the album. The collaboration feels like a meeting between two generations of Nigerian musical influence, with Yemi using that foundation to reinforce one of the project’s central ideas: knowing where you come from while remaining open to where you can go next.
“Earth Song,” featuring Sofiya Nzau and Njerae, adds another layer to the album’s pan-African character, while “Paradise” with Singuila and “Overtake” with Jeriq continue the project’s movement between different sounds and personalities. By the time the bonus tracks arrive, the album has already established its world, making “Worry” with FAVE and “Ashawo (Sawa Sawa)” feel like additional pieces of an already expansive picture.
What makes It’s Yemi Alade work is that its versatility never feels like Yemi is searching for an identity. If anything, the opposite is true. She sounds confident enough in who she is to move between styles without needing to prove that she belongs in any particular one.
There is also something significant about the album title itself. Yemi’s fans were given the opportunity to choose the name, eventually settling on It’s Yemi Alade. It is a simple title, but it says plenty about the record. After years of hits, collaborations, awards, and global recognition, the album feels like a statement of artistic ownership.
That confidence comes after a career that has already taken Yemi from Afropop stardom to genuine global influence. From “Johnny” and “Baddie” to “Africa,” “Oh My Gosh” and “Tomorrow,” she has built a catalogue that has travelled well beyond Nigeria. Her collaborations with Beyoncé and Angélique Kidjo have also placed her within some of the most important conversations around the global reach of African music.
But It’s Yemi Alade does not feel like an album made to celebrate what has already been achieved. Instead, it sounds like an artist using her experience as a foundation for another creative stretch.
There is gratitude in the music, but there is also curiosity. Yemi is looking at the traditions that influenced her, picking out the elements that still speak to her and reshaping them without losing their essence. The result is an album that can feel nostalgic in one moment and adventurous in the next.
Ultimately, It’s Yemi Alade is a confident reflection of an artist who has reached a point where evolution does not require abandoning her roots. She can embrace highlife, experiment with electronic textures, lean into Afropop, explore romance, celebrate life, and collaborate across borders without losing the unmistakable personality that has carried her career this far.
For Yemi Alade, going back to her roots is not about looking backwards. It is about finding new ways to move forward.
