Everything great star has a beginning. No rock star just started without those baby steps. All talents have a nurturing stage and the boom stage.
Temilade Openiyi was born in Lagos and moved to the UK with her British-Nigerian dad and Nigerian mum. After her parent’s divorce, at age 5, she returned to Nigeria and later finished at Dowen College in Lagos.
According to Tems, she was a lone ranger; it gave birth to her finding solitude in music at the tender age of 11.
In an interview, she said, “I used to write poems a lot – I’ll just sit down and write things I’m feeling, and it’ll come out so poetic, even if I’m just talking about breakfast,” she laughs. “So then I just started writing songs, at around 11. Some were about me not having friends and some about my classmates saying I was weird.”
Tems, as can be seen through her music, has a melancholy nature and has expressed her style primarily influenced by – Kate Nash, Lauryn Hill, Lil’ Kim, Paramore, OutKast, and Green Day.
The “Try me” crooner had great help from her music teacher, who taught her to play the piano. According to Tems, she had believed her voice was too heavy for a girl, but as her teacher helped refine her sound, she began to envisage a career in music and finally took the bold step when she turned 20.
In 2013, she released her first EP, “Time Swap EP,” it didn’t do very well in popularity, but Tems kept pushing tills he struck gold with “Mr. Rebel.” The song recorded a whopping 200,000 views on YouTube. By 2018 her album “Illumination” was born.
It didn’t take long before she released another single, “Lookup Lookup,” a widely accepted song that received massive airplay.
Tems raised the bar after releasing her viral single, “Try me”- this song shot her into the limelight. It was released in August 2019 and had over 10 million views on Youtube alone.
During the 2020 pandemic, Tems collaborated with DJ Khalid in a single titled “Know Your Worth” it also featured Nigerian 30BG star, Davido, and Disclosure and made it to Barack Obama’s playlist for summer 2020.
Tems also made her debut extended play, For Broken Ears. Tems produced the EP, and the single “Damages” was her follow-up hit to “Try Me,” ‘Damages’ peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music chart.
When you are good, you are good. Light can’t be hidden. Tems is just starting and the world won’t get tired of listening. A woman with a killer body and a thunderous voice is the fire we don’t want to quench. Go, girl.