At the nexus of the Afrobeat, R&B, and Alté music genres is Temilade Openiyi, a prominent female artist from Nigeria. After the introduction of her self-produced track, Mr. Rebel, the musician known by the stage name Tems caused a stir in the music business.
After releasing a follow-up single, Try Me, she did, however, become more well-known in the Nigerian music scene. Millions of Afrobeats fans throughout the nation fell in love with Tems after she released her debut EP, For Broken Ears, in 2020.
Two Billboard Hot 100 entries have been made by the performer. The first comes from her work on the tune Essence with singer Wizkid. The latter came about as a result of becoming a featured artist on the tune Fountains from Drake’s Certified Lover Boy album.
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Early Life
Tems was born to the Yoruba household of Mr. and Mrs. Openiyi on June 11, 1995. Her father, who is British and Nigerian, is the source of her British citizenship. Her mother, a native of the South West area of Nigeria, is the mother.
Tems was born in Lagos, where her parents gave her the name Temilade Openiyi. She is the family’s second kid and has an older brother. The Openiyis moved to the UK shortly after she was born, although their time there was short-lived because of her parent’s divorce. As a result, she and her brother returned to Nigeria with their mother. the UK, while her father stayed there.
The family lived at Ilupeju first after which they moved to Victoria Island, as well as Lekki and Ajah, upon their return. She was raised in a setting that was generally comfortable.
Tems grew up in a family of Christians. Thanks to her mother, she was exposed to a lot of gospel music as a young child. She did, however, set out to explore different musical genres as she grew older. She then discovered songs by well-known artists including Aaliyah, Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, and Destiny Child as a result.
Her high school music teacher noticed that she had musical talent while she was a student. Additionally, she picked up the guitar and piano as a teenager. Christened Temilade Openiyi, but she cleverly created a well-known moniker for herself.
Tems was born on June 11th, 1995 in the Nigerian state of Lagos, where she was raised.
She is a signed artist with Human Music and Reset Industries. ems spent a brief time teaching in a primary school in the UK. She returned to Nigeria and completed her elementary education at a costly primary school.
She completed her high school coursework at Dowen College in Lekki and graduated from the school with honors. She attended a university in South Africa for her undergraduate studies. Tems attended Dowen College, which is located in the Lekki district of Lagos and was where he was born and raised. Her economics degree was earned at a university in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Tems Career
Tems had already made up her mind to pursue music professionally by the time she was fifteen. She made the initial move to quit listening to other musicians in order to fulfill this dream. To find her own style, she took this action. As a result, she started making music in her own manner, which gave rise to a hybrid of alté, afrobeats, and r&b.
She had picked up sound production while she was a student and had started to get good at it. Creating rhythms for her own songs, was the reason she wanted to gain the expertise. With the formal release of her debut single, Rebel, in 2018, Tems began her career as a musician. She was introduced to the Nigerian music industry by Rebel, and many people soon realized that she was a gifted Alté artist.
Try Me, her follow-up hit, worked the charm and immediately garnered her thousands of followers, though. Radio stations all around the country played the song nonstop, making it a tremendous hit. Increased streams on digital music outlets were a result of her radio success. In August 2019, Try Me was made available.
Tems, who is already known for having a distinctive voice in the field, was invited to collaborate with American singer Khalid. She accepted the request, which sparked the development of the Know Your Worth remix. Davido, a fellow Nigerian singer, was also featured in the remix.
Tems finished her first project and released it on September 25, 2020, as requested by her followers. Tems released the EP For Broken Ears, which was successful commercially in Nigeria, the United States, and Europe. Damages, the project’s lead song, outperformed her previous hit, Try Me, in the eyes of the audience.
She and Wizkid worked together on Essence’s song, the most popular single from his Made In Lagos album, in the same year. Tems has established himself as a major music star because of Essence.
Due to her contribution to the hit song, she was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, a Billboard Hot 100, a Grammy Award for Best Global Music Performance, and she reached the top spot on the BBC 1Xtra Airplay Chart.
The collaboration with Canadian-American singer and rapper Drake was made possible by her success with Essence. She was a featured performer on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy album track Fountain. Tems’ second Billboard Hot 100 placement was aided by Fountain.
Tems launched her sophomore EP, If Orange Was A Place, over a year after the release of her debut album. The album, which was created by Guilty Beatz and released by RCA Records, included the commercially successful hit Crazy Tings. Early in the year, she had signed a recording contract with the publishing company.
Tems, who began her musical journey in a school chorus when she was barely 9 years old, gave it her all when she was 13 years old. She established herself as a household name to be reckoned with when she became a record producer in her 20s.
Tems’ track “Mr. Rebel” became a huge smash, placing her among the top Nigerian performers to keep an eye on. Another tune Tems released, “Try Me,” was favorably welcomed by listeners all around the world and propelled her into the spotlight.
Music aficionados who compared her to Burna Boy were silenced by Tems’ hit Mr. Rebel. Additionally, it led to her being nominated for accolades, including Best Alternative Song and Best Female Vocal Performance at The Headies 2019.
For Broken Ears, Tems’ first extended play, was released on September 25, 2020. It was mostly her who produced it, and the EP’s lead track, “Damages,” which peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music list, number six on the then-recently formed TurnTable Top 50 chart, and garnered five million views on YouTube, becoming another follow-up hit to “Try Me.”
Tems made an appearance on fellow Nigerian musician Wizkid’s single “Essence,” taken from Wizkid’s fourth studio album, Made in Lagos, on October 30, 2020. The song gave her her first career entrance on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 9, as well as the top place on the BBC 1Xtra Airplay Chart.
Tems got three NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Global Music Performance. Tems was a member of the Class of 2020 for The Future Awards Africa on November 8, 2020.
The song “Essence” was updated and published on August 13, 2021, with a new feature from Canadian singer Justin Bieber. This helped the song climb to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
Tems had an appearance on the track “Fountains” from Canadian rapper and singer Drake’s sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy, which debuted at number 26 on the Hot 100, on September 3, 2021. Tems’ second extended play, If Orange Was a Place, was published on September 15, 2021.
GuiltyBeatz was principally responsible for its production, and five days earlier, the single “Crazy Tings,” which reached number three on the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart, was made available. Tems eventually peaked at number one on both the Billboard Emerging Artists chart and the Billboard Next Big Sound chart.
Leading Vibe Radio Show With Tems officially launched on March 31, 2022, on Apple Music 1. Muyiwa Awoniyi and Tunji Balogun make appearances in the show’s opening episode on April 2.
Tems and Drake were both featured on Future’s single “Wait for U,” off of Future’s eighth studio album, I Never Liked You, which was released on April 29, 2022. Tems became the first African female artist to top the chart and especially to debut at the top of the chart when the song debuted at the top of the Hot 100.
“Higher” by For Broken Ears is used as a sample in this song. Tems recorded a song of Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry for the upcoming Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in July 2022, shortly after being confirmed as a guest artist on Beyoncé’s album Renaissance. Tems’ song “Free Mind,” from For Broken Ears, made its chart debut on July 26 and gave her a fourth Hot 100 entry.
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Tems Personal Life
The singer’s parents separated when she was five years old. She also keeps in touch closely with her mother and brother. She enjoys spending time alone in her apartment or seeing her mum when she isn’t in the studio recording songs or playing live.
Tems used to work in business before resigning to focus solely on music. The singer lists Lauryn Hill, Burna Boy, Asa, and Adele as the artists who have inspired her and encouraged her to pursue her career as an artist.
Tems and fellow Nigerian musician Omah Lay were detained by Ugandan authorities in December 2020 for singing live in the nation at a concert that disregarded the nation’s Covid-19 prevention restrictions. Before being freed, the pair spent two days in police custody.
Tems is not currently involved with anyone, despite rumors that she is dating Wizkid. Additionally, she has chosen to keep the specifics of her previous relationships private, so they are not known to the general public.
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Tems Social Media
Tems is a well-known figure on social media and represents how Afrobeats have influenced pop culture. She interacts with her fan base on her social media platforms, and she uses the material she uploads there to attract new listeners to her music. The artist presently has over 1.8 million Instagram followers and over 692k Twitter followers.
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Tems Net Worth
Tems Baby, as her adoring admirers refer to her, is one of the most successful musicians working today. As a result, the singer-songwriter makes a sizable income from her music career through brand collaborations, live performances, and royalties from discographies. Tems’ net worth is reportedly between $1 million and $3 million USD.
