I've gone from this kid with a dream to singing for the Pope

SCOTTISH SINGER EMELI SANDÉ REFLECTS ON RECONNECTING WITH HER ROOTS AND TAKING CONTROL OF HER MUSIC THROUGH STARTING HER OWN LABEL.

- NAOMI CLARKE

AFTER a period of uncertainty about her future in music, Emeli Sandé is now taking her career by the horns.

The Brit Award-winning singer has created her own independent record label Venus Records.

As a female artist, it has been an important step in the next chapter of her life.

Reflecting on her own experience with the music industry, Emeli, 37, says: "Certain things I'm like, 'Is it because of my personality? Is it because I'm black? Is it because I'm a woman?! I just feel there's this constant resistance.

"I think sometimes it's very hard to be taken seriously beyond the music and just to have your voice heard and [be] really respected as a business partner." Emeli opted for the name Venus as she wanted the "feminine energy" of the project to be front and centre.

"At the end of the day, music is a creative, sensitive art and we need to make space for that to be able to breathe, she says.

"If we're always feeling we have to be tough and hard, then you lose the essence of what music is."

She hopes to release her own projects on the label over the next couple of years, and when she feels confident about its operations, she wants to invite other artists to come on board.

"I think artists are sensitive people that need protection, and we shouldn't always need to feel that we need to switch our personality into something it's not to survive," says Emeli.