In the world of entertainment, Yola is a one-of-one. Born in Bristol, England, the acclaimed singer and actress went from being homeless to international stardom. 

After cultivating her musical gifts in the UK as a performer and songwriter, Yola released her debut album Walk Through Fire in 2019 which earned her four Grammy Award nominations, including Best New Artist. Her sophomore Stand for Myself (2021) earned her two more Grammy nominations. 

In 2022, Yola made her acting debut in a powerful portrayal of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, “the Godmother of rock and roll"  in the Elvis biopic.

On the Broadway stage in 2024, she played Persephone in Anaïs Mitchell's hit musical Hadestown.

Without question, Yola is the embodiment of what an artist is supposed to be.

In an exclusive interview with BET.com, Yola shared how she was drawn to performing since she was a child.

“I'm a child of immigrants. My mother is from Barbados and my father is from Ghana. My diasporic experience is so complete because I got to the Caribbean, Africa, I lived in Europe, and now I live in America,” Yola said. “The only thing I haven't done is live in Latin America.”

“On my father's side, his tribe has been artsy for millennia. When people find out what tribe I’m from in Ghana they tell me that's why I’m artsy.” she continued. “You have to have the raw talent but you’ve got to study, get your 10,000 hours in, refine it, and turn it into a real thing.”

While she may have been ultra-talented, Yola was discouraged by her family to pursue her dream of being a singer.

“In our culture, you’re not allowed to chase your dreams,” she laughed. “Your parents are like, ‘Are you going to get a real job?’ You’re supposed to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer.”

Defying her family, Yola began to develop as a musician on the influential “broken beat” music scene. The genre combined electronic dance music, jazz-funk, and R&B. Meeting like-minded musicians would lead her to more opportunities in the industry.

“I auditioned for Bugs in the Attic which is a collective of DJs and producers based in West London. They were one of the principal purveyors of broken beat music, which is a hybrid music of rare groove, Afrobeat, Latin-influenced house music, and jazz,” Yola said. “Instead of going to classes at university, we started to get some things together. That was my first professional audition, I got the job, went on tour, and was part of this scene. They were getting signed at the time so I was ready to be collaborative with them and go on tour.”

“A lot of the cats like Kaidi Tatham, Daz-I-Kue, who were core to the scene, are in the States today,” she continued.

After spending years as a songwriter, Yola felt it was time to launch her solo career.

“I also worked for a production company that did sample replays of samples that people could use in hip-hop. Some of these artists started popping and I started making some actual freaking money,” she recalled. “I was playing the long game so when it popped, I put some money in the bank for my debut as an artist in my own right. That’s when I decided I was gonna launch in America.”

“We were already collaborating transatlantically in the same way that The Rolling Stones were influenced by American artists, we as a diaspora were doing the same thing,” she added. “We were getting all the East Coast hip hop from this show called “Flavor in the UK” and it was hosted by Mark Morrison.”

“At the end of my cycle of promoting my last album, I played Sister Rosette in Elvis. I play rhythm guitar, and I had to learn to do a solo, and I didn't do solos. My introduction to acting was in an Oscar-nominated movie. That's not what normally happens.”

Her role in Elvis led her to land a starring role in one of the most popular shows on Broadway, Hadestown. Receiving a major production is extremely rare but Yola made it happen.

“No one gets a lead role on Broadway out the f**king gate. I knew if I did this as a person who came up in the music industry, it would help open the game for more artists to get into that as well. It was a massive opportunity but  people in the Broadway community call it “star casting.” That’s when they think that people don’t have the chops or the training. I've been co-signed by Baz Luhrmann, so apparently,  I've got things.”

Now concentrating on her music, Yola released her anthemic new single “Symphony,” which explores “the magic of both emotional and sexual connection.” The energetic track blends progressive R&B, classic funk, and soulful pop, signaling a new creative horizon for Yola. Produced by herself along with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Sean Douglas, and producer Zach Skelton, she detailed how the song was created.

“I was in a state where I was trying to reinvent the way that I create music. The more you succeed, the harder it is to find people that really speak into you. I created a format of writing that I called a “starter team.” They were talented musicians such as The PRVLG, Christopher and Christian Underwood who are twins from Memphis. They came up with the baseline and helped me get the demo idea down,” she said. 

“Then I took that to Sean Douglas and Zach Skelton. Sean helped me with that big chorus and Zach added to the production. We moved symbiotically and it was an egoless interaction.”

Yola’s forthcoming EP, My Way, is set for release in 2024. The project is a mash-up of R&B, 70-80’s soulful pop, 90’s R&B, neo soul,  and the sounds from the UK broken beats scene. According to Yola, this is the most liberated she’s ever felt as a musician.