EQUATE Introducing Kemi Ade

Words & interview by Tahirah Thomas

It seems the lack of freedom to connect with nature has proven a troubling reality in lockdown for the South-London hailing singer-songwriter Kemi Ade. When we meet, she’s spent the day in cyberspace grappling with a studio session held via Zoom, which she’s hopped straight out of, into our own video- chat. “Luckily, I have a forest behind my house where I can take breaks from time to time” Ade exhales. It does make perfect sense, that for an artist whose sonic explorations so often inhibit in a space where natural imagery, love and sensuality collide, the overwhelming feelings inherent of being locked in have – understandably - begun to take their toll.

It seems a ripe time for introspection, as this coming Friday she’ll be dropping the (Dusk Edition) of her sophomore EP “Drive” which, unlike its brightly-coloured former (Dawn Edition), moves to explore themes steeped in a darker, more vulnerable side to her artistic identity. “I’m an earth sign” Ade explains candidly, “I think that contributes to me having to feel grounded in order to create at my best”. “The trees are my homies” she jests, her mind having travelled back once more to her fawny sanctum, “I was always there before [the pandemic], that’s where I conceptualised a large part of the music I’m releasing now”.

“I’m an earth sign; I think that contributes to me having to feel grounded in order to create at my best.”

- KEMI ADE

Wondering out loud about how the songstress came to pursue music as a career, I ask if she has any defining memories that drew her towards the creative outlet, “It’s funny, I don’t think I do!” she replies light-heartedly. “Although…” she pauses, fiddling with the drawstring on her black hoodie, “my earliest memory is definitely a musical one”. Her eyes spark up as she details the early recollection, “I must have been two or three? I have this vivid image of playing with toys in the hall where my mum used to rehearse for the church choir.” It’s evident that it’s a fond memory from the beaming smile that steadily grows as she continues, “I still remember how those sounds made me feel, how they moved me, it’s a bit bizarre but I remember my young mind trying to figure out a way to become part of the music”.

Growing up, that vital question continued to play on Ade’s mind which, she tells me, naturally led to her writing songs; albeit at first, mainly for other artists. “I had to dig deep to find the confidence to pursue my own music wholeheartedly”, she professes candidly. “It took a while for me to convince myself that I was even good enough – I had to battle my own self-doubt”. Evidently that’s a battle she’s now won, with the songstress having fostered a budding discography that proves testament to the confidence she’s garnered as a result of her early dabbling’s into the musical world. I ask what it was that allowed her to cultivate the self-confidence she so effortlessly carries herself with now, “I’d say the support of my friends has always played a big role”, she says. “I would play music to them all the time and eventually it got to a point where they kept telling me to put it out”. “I’ve definitely released a couple of singles on the basis of my friends threatening to fight me” the singer chuckles knowingly.

Yet, it wasn’t until a particularly sore break-up with an ex-boyfriend that Ade decided to refine her own pen indefinitely. “The heartbreak from that situation inspired me to find better ways to process my emotions” she says, before explaining how the fated pairing was instrumental in a breakthrough of sorts, with the experience inspiring her debut project. “I discovered that writing is like free therapy, it made the process of moving on so much easier, I was able to listen back and say ‘Oh, that’s what that was’ with a newfound conviction”. Thus, we arrive at the present, where the songstress continues to showcase through her music how eloquently she harnesses every lesson learnt in love for purposeful creative incendiary. I’m intrigued to know why she chose to name “DRIVE” for the new project, and she explains, “It’s about being in control - of my mind, of my heart, of my relationships and my overall approach to love and sensuality.

“I actually had the name before I had the music” she continues with regards to the creative process surrounding her forthcoming body of work. “Actually, the chronology of the songs across both projects almost mirrors the order I recorded them in”. I find this interesting, particularly because it begs the question of why she chose to release it in two instalments. “I think the recording process of both EP’s went hand-in-hand”, she ruminates for a second, “the subject matter I tapped into when recording the (Dawn Edition) gave me the self-assurance to open up and be more vulnerable with the (Dusk Edition).” When writing this collection of songs, Ade clarifies that she placed much focus on “operating from a place of unapologetic self-love”, for her, this was the only way to ensure that the driving intention behind the music could be effectively translated to the listener. “I want people to take the experiences I share through my music and apply it to their own cultivation of self-love – that’s the goal” she explains.

Guiding the conversation deeper towards Ade’s approach to lyricism, I point out that across both works her song-writing seems to be centred by themes of romance and sensuality. As an artist who holds no fear in leaving her emotions on the track, it’s refreshing to hear how she sonically elucidates her experiences with regards to power structures in relationships. On love, the songstress states her position “You have to be stong in your decisions, and also sure of the people you let into your space”. I pry further, asking if there were any valuable lessons she learned in love whilst recording the double EP, to which she replies, “I just know now that love’s gonna do what loves gon’ do”, she continues with a knowledgeable apprehension, “I think that’s the beauty in it, that we have no choice over how it comes or goes”. Ending this line of thought pensively, she concludes “You have to see yourself as worthy of experiencing and receiving love, until you’re able to do that, you can’t expect anybody else to see that for you”.

As our conversation comes to a close, I ponder whether Ade has envisioned an ideal setting for people to listen to the new music in. “I have two scenarios which come to mind”, she says with a cheery sensibility. “One would be that you listen to both sides of the EP back-to-back on a long drive through the country”. The elaborateness of the other is very telling of the potential Ade sees for the music as a healing tool for herself as well as others, “Well, the other takes place in two settings and over the course of a whole day”, she says. “I’d start in the park at first light, accompanied by the (Dawn Edition) and a joint – allowing the music to calm me”, after going about your day, she continues “wherever you happen to find yourself at 2:00AM that night, play the (Dusk Edition) - really take it in, for some reason it hits so differently in the night-time!”. I leave Ade fascinated by the latter, and fittingly, as 2:00AM strikes I’m up listening to the (Dawn Edition), discovering that in truth there’s something special about the sentimentality and openness that the songstress is so willing to leave on each track. In all actuality, with this new project, Ade has managed to sonically illuminate the power that can be found in vulnerability.

Watch the visuals for ‘Promise’ from Drive (Dusk Edition) below…

YouTube/Kemi Ade

Stream Drive (Dusk Edition) HERE

Follow Kemi on socials:

Instagram: @_kemiade

Twitter: @_KemiAde

DRIVE – DUSK EDITION TRACKLISTING:

1. Welcome Back

2. 2AM

3. Promise

4. Last One