Nigeria's Yemi Alade Is Dauntless on 'Rebel Queen'
Yemi Alade takes the nebulous concept of Afropop from cheap copout to something far more powerful and interesting: a sonic indexing of widespread community.
Rebel Queen Yemi Alade Effyzzie Music Group / IDOL 26 July 2024
Terms like Afropop and Afrobeats deserve the critique they often get; at best, they're nonspecific and dismissive of the enormity of the African continent and diaspora. There is, though, a strong contingent of creators who know how to make such categories meaningful. Yemi Alade is one such performer, a capable and talented Nigerian artist whose body of work draws on a wide spectrum of styles in celebration of her identity as an African woman. Rebel Queen exemplifies this.
Over the course of her new album, she hops from genre to genre, exploring creative flows across the continent, state borders notwithstanding. 'Welcome to my Africa,' sings Alade in the short introductory track 'Karibu', and it's hard to imagine a warmer or more well-polished welcome than Rebel Queen.
Alade's Africa is one inflected with pride and joy, pleasure and positivity. She sings in half a dozen languages about work, play, society, and success with a zeal for it all. Her voice is as flexible as it is strong, letting her fit easily alongside some impressive collaborators. Of those, feminist icon Angélique Kidjo and reggae scion Ziggy Marley are the biggest names and make for the most on-the-nose cameos; Kidjo sings with Alade on sisterhood anthem 'African Woman' and Marley on entreaty 'Peace and Love'.
A couple of newer musicians, Ghanaian highlife innovator KiDi and eclectic Congolese superstar Innoss'B bring their fresh energies to scornful 'Medaase' and dance track 'Lipeka', respectively. They're diverting duets, and her guests extend Alade's goal of presenting a gamut of African and diasporic musical perspectives.
The hero here, though, is always Alade, who shines brightest when she stands at the forefront. On earworm 'Bop', she is dauntless and deservedly so ('I'm humble but I'm not down to earth / My enemies no go inherit my sweat'). She revels in good feelings on lilting 'Ije Love', she embraces her sensual side on 'Big Vibe', and so on. It's precisely the range a real pop diva needs to have, and Alade takes full command of every mode. She's as comfortable singing over deep amapiano-style house beats on dramatic 'Ki Lo Wa Wa' as leading the triumphant call-and-response of 'Happy Day'.
Rebel Queen places Yemi Alade in exactly the titular role. She is regal, fearless, and happy to go against the grain, all the while 'Never looking down / So me crown never fall,' as she sings in 'Bop'. Alade handles the spotlight with ease. Her work is bold and smooth, with uplifting messages and chic contemporary beats overflowing with mass pop appeal. With songs for the club, the streets, the beach, and the bedroom, there's plenty to enjoy on this album as Yemi Alade makes the most of the resources she has at the top of the pop world.
By the time Rebel Queen ends, with a high-energy remix of the 2022 dancehall track 'Baddie', she's taken the nebulous concept of Afropop from cheap copout to something far more powerful and interesting: a sonic indexing of widespread community. That's no easy task. She executes it with grace.
