Yemi Alade Says She Quit Smoking After Short Stint in University

Afropop star Yemi Alade has revealed that she briefly struggled with smoking during her university years, admitting that what started as teenage experimentation quickly became a nightly habit.

Speaking with Chude Jideonwo, Alade said the challenges of hiding her smoking in public and the negative impact on her vocal health—essential for her music career—were major reasons she decided to quit.

She recalled:

“Some people say I don’t smoke, I don’t this, I don’t that. When I was in the university I tried smoking. I did not work out. But before it did not work out, it worked out a bit too much. I started needing to smoke before I go to bed. I was getting addicted to that lifestyle. But also, in public, I would hide the cigarette.

“So, I was like, ‘What’s this life; the discomfort that I can’t go to bed without smoking and then when I go out, I am going to hide the cigarette? As a teenager in the university trying to figure out life, I also made certain decisions for myself that if I’m going to hide to do something, I will not do it. Because I like to be aware of my environment and my decisions. And I just said I don’t think cigarettes are for me.

“They are not for me. And they harmed me, they affected my voice anyways. So I stopped. Smoking for me did not last up to a year.”

Alade’s honest account sheds light on her early struggles and the deliberate choices she made to protect her health and her career.