Simi: How I handle stage fright

Simi, the Nigerian singer and songwriter, has shared her experience with stage fright and how she now handles it.

The ‘Duduke’ hitmaker recently took to X to engage her fans in a Q and A session about her latest album ‘Lost And Found‘.

She also posted a short clip of herself miming ‘Lost and Found’, a song of the 14-track project.

Simi revealed that she has a “history of bad stage fright” when she performs a new song onstage.

However, the 34-year-old said she overcomes stage fright by mentally bonding with a song to “learn to disregard me and my nerves”.

“The first few times I have to perform a new song (any song) live on stage is like trying on a new pair of shoes that needs adjustments. I don’t know why that is. Lol. Maybe it’s cos I have a history with pretty bad stage fright. Now I have to give my brain time to bond with the song so it can learn to disregard me and my nerves,” she wrote.

“Anyway this night, I kept rehearsing this song (maybe overly so), because it was my first time performing it on stage and of course the nerves came. But I have one or two more to go until I get out of the way and my brain takes over lol.”

‘Lost and Found’ is Simi’s fifth studio album. ‘Ogaju,’ her debut studio album, was released in 2008.

She then followed it up with ‘Simisola’ (2017), ‘Omo Charlie Champagne’ (2019), and ‘To Be Honest’ (2021) — her second, third, and fourth projects respectively.

Simi started her career as a gospel singer.

She gained prominence in 2014 after putting out ‘Tiff’, a song nominated for The Headies 2015.

Simi signed a record deal with X3M Music in 2014 but left the label in 2019 following the expiration of her contract.

The singer then launched her own record label Studio Brat.

Simi is married to Adekunle Gold, who also happens to be a singer. The union is blessed with a child.