As we advance in the Glazia Black History Month celebrations, we continue to honour Nigerians (home and abroad). Especially those who are making the nation proud, flying the flag high, and building lasting legacies. Today’s spotlight honouree is Grammy award nominated singer, Tems.
Glazia Black History Month 2022 – Tems.
Temilade “Tems” Openiyi (born 11 June 1995), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter who has been singing since 2015. She shot to fame in the Nigerian music industry in 2018 when she released her single “Mr. Rebel”. The single was nominated for Best Vocal Performance (female) and Best Alternative Song at the 2019 HEADIES. She released another hit single “Try Me” in August 2019 . In 2020, Tems was featured alongside Davido on American singer Khalid’s single “Know Your Worth”. Tems was also on DJ Edu’s “Artist to Watch” list.
“I wanted to learn how to attack a song from what I was feeling, not what Beyoncé would do or anyone else”
tems
More accolades
On September 25th, Tems released her debut EP “For Broken Ears” with the hit song “Damages”. It peaked at number 1 on the Apple Music Nigeria and number 6 on the TurnTable Top 50 chart. Damages garnered 5 million views on YouTube and also won the Net Honors Award for “Most Played Alternative Song in 2021.” Tems also made to the Glazia List: Best Songs of 2021.
Tems was featured in Wizkid’s fourth studio album on the song “Essence”. This feature on “Essence” launched her into enormous international acclaim. With the song, she earned her number 1 spot on BBC 1Xtra Airplay Chart and her first career entry on Billboard Hot 100. She earned her second entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with her collaboration with Drake on the song “Fountains” which debuted at number 26. The “Essence” remix which featured Justin Beiber peaked at number 10 on the Billboard h0t 100 and earned her a Grammy Award nomination.
In 2021, Tems was ranked number one on the Billboard Next Big Sound chart and number 5 on the Billboard Emerging Artist chart. In September 2021, Tems was signed to RCA Records. On 15 September 2021, she released her second extended play (EP) titled “If Orange Was a Place,” with single “Crazy Tings”. Crazy Tings peaked at number 3 on the UK Afrobeats chart, and debuted at number 7 on the Billboard World Albums chart. It also hit number 9 on the Heatseekers Album chart.
Tems got us all entranced with her voice and soulful singing. According to Tems, her genre is spirit and we definitely feel her songs in our spirit.
There are so many big milestones that Tems have hit in recent times, many of which earned her spot on the Glazia BHM 2022 list.