Temilade Openiyi (born 11 June 1995), known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born to a Nigerian mother and a British-Nigerian father, her family moved to the United Kingdom shortly after birth. Her Early Career started in 2018/2019 when she quit school to pursue a career in music. She began to learn self production skills on YouTube.
Four – Try me
This song garnered over 11M views on the official music video on YouTube. This song brought her into the limelight which was released on the 7th of August 2019.
Awards And Accolades
Tems is known for her feature on Wizkid’s single, “Essence” which reached the top ten of the Hot 100 after a reworked version that has an additional feature from Justin Bieber and earned her a Grammy Award nomination. That same year, she was featured on Drake’s song, “Fountains”which debuted and peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100.
In the same year, Tems was ranked number one on the Billboard Next Big Sound chart and number-one on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart.
Throughout her career, Tems has received multiple award nominations, winning two NAACP Image Awards, Two BET Awards for; and a Soul Train Music Award for;
- Soul Train Music Awards for Best Collaboration “Essence “
- African Entertainment Awards USA for Best Collaboration, Best Video and Song of the Year for “Essence”
- The Afro X Digital Awards, Pop Song of the Year for “Damages”
- BET AWARDS for Best Collaboration and Best International Act for”Essence”Amongst others.
Three – Crazy Things
This music garnered over 11M views on it’s official video on YouTube. This song was released on the 10th of September,2021 off her album “of Orange was a place” which was produced by GuiltyBeatz.
Controversy
On 14 December 2020, Tems was arrested alongside fellow Nigerian singer Omah Lay after they performed in a show in Uganda. The Ugandan police authority identified violation of COVID-19 lockdown protocols as the reason for their arrests, but the two artists felt they were set up. Two days later, the Ugandan government released them, apologised for the arrests, and dropped the charges.
Two – Damages
This song Garnered over 14M on its official video on YouTube. It was released on 17th of September 2020. Written by Tems and produced by Spax, the song is the only single from Tems’s first EP For Broken Ears. The song peaked at number one on Apple Nigeria, number two on the Apple Music R&B Songs chart, and at number six on the TurnTable Top 50. On 24 November 2020, “Damages” became the most played song on Nigeria radio. It won the Net Honors for Most played Alternative Song.
Bonus
Wait for U feat. Tems
Tems was featured alongside Drake on Future’s 2022 single, “Wait for U” which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first African artist to debut at number one on HOT 100 and the second Nigerian artist to top the chart. This music video garnered 35M views on YouTube which was released on the 5th of May 2022. It was certified Gold for the ARIA In Australia and Platinum for the RIAA In the United States
One – Essence with Wizkid
This video garnered over 94M views on it’s official video on YouTube. Essence is a song by Nigerian singer Wizkid, featuring fellow Nigerian singer Tems. It was released on 30 October 2020, as the fourth single from Wizkid’s fourth studio album, Made in Lagos. “Essence” was produced by P2J and Legendury Beatz. Essence was included in Spotify’s Song of the Summer playlist in June 2021, and in Barack Obama’s favourite songs of 2020 playlist. The song won at the All Africa Music Awards for and the African Entertainment Awards USA for Best African Collaboration, Song of the Year in Africa and Best Video. It also won for Best Collaboration for BET Awards amongst others.
