Sade

Photo from VEIN Magazine

Sade (Nigerian/British)

What words can we use to honor our #matriarchmonday and #musicmatriarch Sade - authentic, talented, bold, cool, timeless. 

Sade was born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria and moved to England when she was four. Sade grew up listening to soul music, such as Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Bill Withers which influenced her music career. Sade studied fashion in London and modeled before she joined the band Pride. First as an apprentice and then as the lead singer, Sade was noticed and signed a music deal, taking her original bandmates with her. 

Sade has since grown into an icon that personifies an effortless cool. Even more than that she has shown what is means to value yourself as an artist and to live with integrity, even in the spotlight. According to Sade, “you can only grow as an artist as long as you allow yourself the time to grow as a person.”

2010. Photograph by Sophie Muller