On Friday, Grace Ladoja was awarded an MBE from Charles, Prince of Wales, at Buckingham Palace — an honour she has been waiting to receive officially since January for her services in the music industry. Queen Elizabeth announced Ladoja as one of 1,123 people on the main New Year Honours list.
Really, though, this is a dream Ladoja has had in some form of fashion since she was 16. She posted an Instagram alongside Prince Charles and captioned it in part, “Today I received an MBE from HRH The Prince of Wales and I’m happy And emotional because 16 year old me would now have someone to identify with. Today my mum would have been so proud, the sacrifices she made and the struggle we went through was character building and gave me so much drive, focus & strength to keep pushing forward, cos that struggle was REAL and it made me a workaholic that wanted to push myself to greater things. UK music is amazing and I’m so happy to be a part of it.”
Original Instagram post here.
Ladoja is known as a rising music executive, specifically in the U.K. grime scene as manager to Skepta, who won the Mercury Prize in 2016 for his self-released album titled Konnichiwa. Outside of her work with Skepta, Ladoja is a filmmaker — notably directing FKA Twigs’ first video project.
In an April interview with Vogue, Ladoja expanded on her mission to spread her native Naija culture in the West. “I’m British and Nigerian — what are we gonna make that bridges that? It’s hippie shit, but I genuinely believe I understand my purpose,” she told the magazine. “I’m just a vessel for change.”
In addition to filmmaking and managing, Ladoja is the founder of Metallic Inc.
