Global music icon Yemi Alade is back with Rebel Queen, her highly anticipated sixth studio album. The album’s title reflects Yemi’s fierce love for her African roots and her bold approach to creating her own path in music.

Affectionately dubbed Mama Africa for her tireless celebration of African culture, Yemi Alade expresses her linguistic versatility in Rebel Queen, singing in Yoruba, English, Igbo, French, and Swahili. This cross-cultural approach highlights her mission to spread African music worldwide.

Featuring 16 tracks, Rebel Queen accommodates impressive collaborations with legends like Angélique Kidjo on “African Woman,” Ziggy Marley on “Peace and Love,” Congolese rapper Innoss’B on “Lipeka,” and dancehall star Konshens on “Baddie Remix.” Yemi explores personal themes with songs like “Ije Love,” a lover’s serenade, and “I’m Sorry” and “Chairman,” which champion living unapologetically. “Bop” is a dancehall anthem about overcoming life’s challenges, while “Big Connection” flaunts her superstar lifestyle.

The album also features tracks like “Karibu”, a Swahili welcome song, and “Tomorrow”, which advises living in the moment. “Happy Day” exudes joy and resilience, while “African Woman” stands as a powerful anthem celebrating the strength and grace of African women.

Speaking about the inspiration behind her Rebel Queen album, Yemi Alade says, “I created this album with the sole purpose of creating music I grew up loving, and the variety of African music that I have grown to love now. I was inspired by the core African music of highlife and different genres that got us excited as Africans.

I channelled older African music that could be played at parties, weddings, clubs, and all sorts of occasions, where we really started enjoying African music, and spreading our culture and heritage across the continent. This album has something new, old, and borrowed. Every song is unique and a capsule of my thoughts, melodies, and truck load of nostalgia”.

Offering further context behind the soundscapes on Rebel Queen, Yemi Alade adds, “Growing up, African pop music was a mixture of music that carried messages and helped us through different situations in life. This album is a blend of what my playlist consists of right now including the new and old pop music that cuts across generations and boundaries.

She continues, “There are a lot of discussions about ‘what is African music’, ‘what should afrobeats or afropop sound like’, so I wanted to strip everything down and go back to the core and essence of African feel-good music that has heavily influenced Africans globally, and reflects our different sounds across the continent. I am a true rebel in words and in action. I have always charted my own course and walked the path less travelled, and this album shows that”.

Yemi Alade will hit the road with Rebel Queen on her “African Rebel” tour, starting at Pop-Kultur Berlin on August 30 and Zénith Paris on September 21. This follows last year’s successful “African Baddie” tour, which saw sold-out shows across London, Chicago, Montreal, Sweden, and Amsterdam.

Listen to Rebel Queen: