Nigeria’s entertainment industry has been thrown into mourning following the death of popular Yoruba singer, Iyun Janet Ajilore, better known as St. Janet.St. Janet reportedly died on Saturday after a brief illness. Her death was announced in the early hours of Sunday by publisher and socialite, Otunba Femi Davies, through his social media platforms.
News of her passing has since triggered reactions across entertainment and social circles, particularly among those who followed her unusual musical journey.
For years, St. Janet occupied a rare space in Nigerian music. She became known for performances built around unconventional Yoruba lyrics and a distinctive stage persona that separated her from many of her contemporaries.
Behind her public image, however, was a musician whose roots were firmly connected to church music.
She was reportedly raised around the Cherubim and Seraphim tradition and served as a chorister before her career took a different direction into popular music.
St. Janet’s emergence was particularly striking in an industry where male musicians had traditionally dominated sexually suggestive musical expression.
She challenged that pattern and created a distinctive identity for herself through her lyrics, stage performances and energetic interpretation of Yoruba popular music.
Her music became popular at parties, clubs and social gatherings across the South-West. At the same time, her lyrical style attracted criticism from sections of the public.
One of her notable projects, “Faaji Plus,” became associated with her rise and helped establish her as one of the most unconventional female voices in Yoruba popular music.
Her music also generated controversy at different points in her career, with reports that some of her songs faced restrictions because of their lyrical content.
Rather than retreat from the spotlight, St. Janet continued to build a career around the musical identity she had created.
In a 2013 interview, she reportedly maintained that she enjoyed what she was doing and had no intention of abandoning the style that had brought her recognition.
Her story has also attracted academic interest, with researchers examining her music through themes of sexuality, gender, culture and the changing character of Yoruba popular music.
Beyond the controversy surrounding some of her songs, St. Janet remained an important figure in the evolution of female expression within Yoruba entertainment.
She created a space for herself at a time when women in the genre were often expected to operate within more conventional boundaries.
Her stage persona and performances eventually became closely associated with her name, making her instantly recognisable among followers of Yoruba popular entertainment.
Although details surrounding her final moments remain limited, news of her death after a brief illness has already generated widespread reactions among admirers and colleagues.
St. Janet’s career was anything but conventional.
She was loved by many, criticised by others and debated by a much wider audience. Yet, few who encountered her music could easily forget her.
Her death marks the end of a distinctive chapter in Yoruba popular music and leaves behind a body of work that ensured her name would remain part of conversations about the evolution of the genre.
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