From Lagos, With Love

Music is a universal language that can draw inspiration from anywhere and anything to share a message with anyone. His love for his wife’s “smart mouth” brought about John Legend’s “All of Me,” while the loss of love from failed relationships gave way to Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next.” And everyone knows how a radio show host’s sarcastic remark likening Destiny’s Child to the hit reality show “Survivor” led Beyoncé to pen the group’s 2001 hit of the same name, much like her husband’s marital mistake of infidelity opened the doors to Queen Bey’s iconic visual album Lemonade. From pain to pleasure and everything in between, musicians find inspiration wherever it shows itself, and Nigeria native Yetunde has plenty of places for hers.

Born in Lagos and raised in Liverpool, England, newcomer Yetunde fuses R&B and pop blended with her background in both countries to create a sound all her own. Her most recent single, “Promise,” tells the story of a fresh, new love and all the ups, downs, chaos, confusion, excitement, and euphoria that come with it. “It’s really just a fun love song about falling in love in Lagos, in Nigeria,” she says. “You know, Lagos is a really kind of busy, hectic place, and everyone there is kind of cautious as well; no one’s really got time for love, but it happens. Love is a strong emotion, and you can’t control sometimes when it pops up.”

Singing stories of trying to stay grounded when you’re not in control of your emotions, Yetunde emphasizes her intention of combining her Afrobeats background with today’s R&B. Being influenced by her surroundings, she never forgets the sounds that shaped her. “I left Nigeria when I was very young, but being in an African household, you never leave,” she says. “My parents always played the music, a lot of Fela Kuti, who is one of the OG Afrobeats artists from back in the day.” Outside of her African household, Michael Jackson ruled her music world, and Yetunde cites current artists, like Adele, for holding her attention now. “It was kind of like me discovering these sides of myself and exploring them, and I never limit myself genre-wise, either. Because I’m drawn to melody, I’ll hear a song, whether it’s a dance song, whether it’s rock, like a bit of Coldplay, and I find myself moving across genres in that respect and taking in all those influences.”

Without fear of sounding “too generic,” Yetunde describes her sound as “Afropop, Afro-R&B, and even Afro-country,” making sure that the “Afro” part is always a part in her songwriting, as she never wants to steer too far away from the music that made her. “I’d like to think I’m quite versatile in that respect. I do a lot of Afrobeats, but I still have some solid pop songs, straight R&B songs, and even some that fall more into the country category as well, so I can deliver whatever I need to.”

With a new EP in the works featuring five to seven new songs, Yetunde is excited to continue her love story through song as she gears up to release another single. Entitled “You Do Something to Me,” the new single fits perfectly into the EP’s theme of love in the midst of. “I like to think of myself as an empath, so I write through my experiences and the experiences of my friends and people I know, as the EP touches on love as you try to push through life,” she says. “It’s just going to deal with real life and unrequited love. Just that yearning for being loved for who you are.” Summing up the backstory of her EP in three words, Yetunde gives us, “Sexy. Reflective. Love,” as she hopes that people listen to her music with an open mind.

Don’t forget to keep up with all things Yetunde by visiting her official Linktree at yetundeofficial | Instagram | Linktree.