Nigerian singer and performing artist, Simisola Kosoko, popularly known as Simi, recently opened up about her strategies for dealing with stage fright.
The “Joromi” singer revealed that she has struggled with severe stage fright in the past. She likens her first few performances of a new song to “trying on a new pair of shoes that needs adjustments,” emphasizing the initial awkwardness and discomfort.
Simi explained that she has to give her brain time to get accustomed to the new song, allowing it to ignore her nervousness. She shared a rehearsal clip of a song from her latest album, Lost and Found, on X (formerly Twitter), detailing her process.
“The first few times I perform a new song live on stage, it feels like trying on a new pair of shoes that needs adjustments. I don’t know why that is, maybe because of my history with pretty bad stage fright. I need to give my brain time to bond with the song so it can learn to disregard me and my nerves,” Simi wrote.
She continued, “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 performances to go until I get out of the way and let my brain take over.”
Through persistence and rehearsal, Simi finds a way to manage her stage fright and deliver confident performances.
