YARLIE
YARLIE is back on BETTER! Since our first interview in 2021, a lot has changed: new places, new experiences, new music, and a whole new chapter in her journey as an artist.
I caught up with YARLIE to talk about her latest single “Rain On Me”, her international journey, finding confidence in herself, and embracing every part of who she is.
Yarlie, it’s so lovely to have you back! I first interviewed you in 2021, so let’s start with a little catch-up. When you look back at the Yarlie I spoke to back then, what has changed the most — both as an artist and as a person?
Happy to be back - both back to music, but also back at BETTER!
Oh, 2021-YARLIE. I’m beyond proud of her. In 2021 I had just released my first singles - and I was so excited, hungry and eager. I was working three jobs, were going through a lot personally and yet I still found the energy and created space and time to debut as an artist. Not only did I create time for the music, but also everything around it - try to understand and navigate the industry, create content, write press releases and everything else that comes with being an independent artist. For that, I’m proud and also very thankful, since that has allowed me to be in a place today where I feel ready. Ready for real.
I’d say the biggest difference between 2021-YARLIE and me now is the confidence. Back then I was very much dependent on what people around me thought and advised - I could only fully accept that an idea of mine was good if someone else confirmed it as good. Today I still seek advice from my music industry big brothers & sisters, but I still leave the ultimate saying to myself.
The difference between 2021-me and today-me as a person is like night and day. Long story short - a couple of years ago I sold everything I owned, solo traveled the world, re learned everything I know about myself and the world, had a battle with hematometra and won (7 surgeries later), met the love of my life, got married and moved to a beach villa at the Kenyan coast - haha!
You’ve continued building your career across different countries and cultures. How have those experiences shaped the artist you are today?
A lot - my music couldn’t have had the sound it has today if it wasn’t for the influences from different countries and cultures. The way Catalunya made me hear the guitar like I’ve never heard it before, the way Nigeria showed me the true mening of communication between instruments by introducing me to the gángan-drum, the way Kenya taught me the impact and intention that can come from a one string instrument being the orutu-fiddle.
Your music has always had a very distinctive identity, but your sound is now making more room for Afropop and African influences. Was this a natural evolution for you, or something you consciously wanted to explore?
It was very much a natural evolution that came with me spending several years across Africa, but also and more so being married to a Nigerian musician whom I sing, jam and create with on a daily basis. However, it is not the first time I’m introduced to African influences - my dad actually grew up in Zambia, and my grandparents lived in Kenya for many years when I was a toddler, so African music and culture is something I was introduced to at a very early age.
Let’s talk about your new single, “Rain On Me.” The song actually begins with a voice note of your husband during a storm in Lagos, shouting and half-singing “Rain on me, rain!” How did that little voice note turn into a song?
I had been stuck in somewhat of a creative block for quite some time, which I decided to help myself out of by forcing myself to create something everyday for two weeks - no matter if I enjoyed it, no matter if the result were good or bad, no matter what; I would create something every day. This very day was a stormy day in Lagos, and we have had power cut for over 12 hours so when I sat down to try to produce something for the day I only had very little battery left on my laptop. I started playing around with some chords, and tried humming some melodies on top of it. Subconsciously my husband picked up one of the melodies and shout-sang it to the pouring rain storm outside of our window: “Rain on me! Rain on me, rain! Rain on me, rain!”, and I instantly fell in love with how that sounded so I picked up my phone and recorded a voice note of him singing it. Then I rushed to create a demo for it before my laptop would die, recorded both me and my husband singing what now is the chorus, and finished the production the next day.
There’s something quite beautiful about the journey of this track: written in Nigeria, produced in Kenya, recorded in Stockholm and Mombasa, and mastered in Berlin. What does that journey say about who Yarlie is as an artist today?
Thank you for appreciating its journey - I surely do too. I think it might say that I’m as an artist need quite some time. Perhaps not the most valuable quality in an artist in today’s music industry where you’re advised to drop a song every 2 weeks, haha - but it is what it is. I enjoyed letting this song take both its time and place. I needed it, and the song needed it.
“Rain On Me” talks about false healing and vulnerability. What did you personally want to express through this song?
That it’s easy to feel joy when it’s all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows - but what really matters in the end is learning to be your own safe space when the rain is pouring, the storm is storming and when the triggers are triggering. You’re gonna be sad again, you’re gonna be hurt again, you’re gonna be stressed again - but that too will be temporary and you will be fine again. Very much as one of my favourite sayings reads; “April showers bring May flowers”.
You describe the idea of being “broken and whole” as something that can coexist. What does being whole mean to you today?
I’d say being whole means being it all. Being it all and feeling it all. The light, the darkness, the joy, the sorrow - and everything inbetween.
You have this beautiful image of the stones by the shore outside your window accepting the ocean whether it’s stormy or calm. Has your relationship with difficult emotions changed over the years?
I love those stones! What a great reminder that it really is what it is. Before I used to aim to have as few triggers as possible, and to feel happy as often as possible - which I still very much do of course, but I’d say that nowadays I’m more focused on accepting whatever may come. It all happens for a reason, and que sera, sera.
The song also brings in the Yorùbá “Gángan” talking drum. What does incorporating an instrument and musical tradition like this mean to you?
I’ve never been as fascinated by an instrument as I am by the gángan - both by its history, purpose and by its sound. Just like when we humans speak with our different languages, accents and intonations, so does this drum, so without saying that no one else should be allowed to play it - my personal opinion is that it’s best performed by someone who speaks the gángan’s original language; Yòrúba. So, when Bill Sticks wanted to play gángan on “Rain On Me” I was beyond happy and honoured, and it really did more than add to the production - it made the production to what it is.
You’ve been described as a cross-cultural bridge builder, and you’re now nominated for the 2026 Heritage Embrace Award of the Year in Nigeria. What does that recognition mean to you personally?
I’m so honoured to share that I’ve not only been nominated for this prestigious award, but am also the winner of the Heritage Embrace Award 2026. I'm very happy, humbled and honoured for this - especially because Nigeria has had such a profound impact on both my life and my music. I’ve been welcomed, inspired and shaped by so many people and experiences in Nigeria, and to have that connection recognised in this way is incredibly meaningful to me.
Do you feel that living and creating between different cultures has changed the way you see identity — and perhaps even what “home” means to you?
After traveling quite a lot, I finally understand and agree with the saying “home is where the heart is”.
You’ve performed on the main stage at Gröna Lund, toured Uganda, appeared on Kenyan television, and had your music featured by Spotify and Apple Music. Is there a particular moment from the past few years that you still think about and think, “Wow, I actually did that”?
In all honesty, that’s something I definitely need to get better at; pausing, appreciating and reflecting on the wins. It’s easy to have those kind of conversations with yourself when something went wrong, but just as (if not more) important to do when something went well.
You have many more releases planned for 2026 and 2027. What can you tell us about what’s coming next? And should we expect more of this blend of Scandinavian pop and African influences?
Yes! Am sooo happy and ready to have more music coming in 2026 and 2027.
Well, it’s most definitely Scandipop with influences outside of Scandinavian pop - but not necessarily only from Africa. I’d say that signs from all my recent travels is to be found in what’s coming, both in sound and language. And just as much as I’ve been inspired from places and cultures outside of Scandinavia, I’ve also been able for the first time in my career to find home. I kinda had to leave home to find home. Swedish culture for sure has a lot more to offer than “just” the pop sound we’re so often known for internationally. There’s a whole musical heritage here too - folk music, traditional instruments, melodies and storytelling - and I’m really enjoying discovering that side of home in my own music.
After everything you’ve experienced since we last spoke in 2021, what feels most exciting to you about the next chapter of your journey?
Being an adult, haha. I think I’m finally at a point where I feel much more comfortable with who I am and what I want to create. I’ve spent a lot of the last few years figuring out what actually feels like me, rather than what I thought I was supposed to be doing. And that has made making music feel exciting in a completely different way. I feel more curious, more fearless and much less concerned with fitting into any particular box. I think I’m finally giving myself permission to just follow where the music takes me.
And finally, if you could sit down with the Yarlie I interviewed back in 2021 and tell her one thing about everything that was still ahead of her, what would you say?
Buckle up, girl. We’re going for a ride.
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