Temilade Openiyi, better known by her stage name Tems, is a Grammy-winning singer from Nigeria who decided to pursue R&B instead of the popular afrobeats genre since she knew she would suffer serious repercussions.
Tems claimed that because of how much she believed in herself, it didn’t matter if she never achieved “anything or anyone” in the R&B industry.
The singer of the hit song “Essence” claimed that she “just wanted to get a message out.”
She revealed this in an interview with American rapper Kendrick Lamar that was included in the most recent issue of Interview Magazine.
I was ready to pass away, Tems said. I had such a strong sense of self-worth that I didn’t really care if I never attained any success. I only wanted to spread a message. My goal was to broadcast my frequency. I then remarked, “Even if only ten people hear this, it’s okay.” I love Celine Dion, so I enjoy that strong feeling of being about to jump off a cliff. Along the road, however, I also listened to a lot of Nigerian music and wasn’t receiving much spirituality. Afrobeats wasn’t necessarily providing me with the kind of stimulus I desire from my music all the time.
Everyone she sought counsel from at the time, she claimed, urged her to pursue afrobeats, declaring, “The only way you can achieve this is Afrobeats. It’s not that your music is poor; it’s just that Nigeria isn’t the right place for it. This is disliked among Nigerians.
The Oscar-nominated singer claimed that she would not give up because monetary gain was not her objective. In addition, she stated that she is “chasing a frequency.”
