Afropop sensation Yemi Alade has shared that she once struggled with a brief cigarette addiction during her university years but decided to quit after realizing it was damaging her voice and forcing her to smoke in secrecy.
In an interview with Chude Jideonwo, the Johnny crooner revealed that what began as a casual experiment in her teenage years soon turned into a nightly smoking habit.
She added that the stress of hiding the habit in public eventually made her uncomfortable and pushed her to give it up completely.
Alade also noted the negative impact on her vocal health, a critical concern for her career.
“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,” she stated.