The Grammy award-winning artiste took over the headlines at the just-ended Oscar awards with her styling, yes, at the Oscars. Imullar looks at how Afrobeats’ First Lady worked her way to the genre’s White House.
Her custom white sculptural gown from Ukrainian brand Lever Couture, had the internet debating over her styling, as it blocked the view of attendees behind her, as controversial as it sounds, that has always been Tems, a standout in the room.
Temilade’s accomplishments sound unreal when you take into consideration that she is yet to release her debut album, but her Rebel Gang (nickname for her fanbase), knew the Queen they had been stanning from the start. Her love for R&B in particular has always been visible, from her cover days on Youtube, but things got serious when she quit her job to focus on music. In the quest for perfecting her craft, she learned the art of production via YouTube, a task that was quite easy due to the fact that she had already been playing the piano and guitar alongside her brother, this cleared the path for her career.
Her debut single “Mr. Rebel” was released in 2018, a record that she produced herself. By late 2019, “Try Me” was making waves all over the capital, this made her the next act to watch out for, what gave the singer an extra edge is her ability to settle on any record; she can be the most soulful character on an R&B song, and the grooviest on an Afrobeats record. This duality earned her career a first international feature, a record with Khalid, Disclosure, and fellow Nigerian mate, Davido.
If 2019 positioned the ladder to the big league, 2020 was just highlights of her climbing to the very top. Her debut, “For Broken Ears”, was released on 25th September, a seven-track Ep that introduced her prolific pen, I mean early listeners knew about her penning skills, but the world was now taking notice. The Ep’s single “Damages” was a successful one, topping Nigeria’s Apple Music charts and garnering over five million views on YouTube. The Ep received positive reviews from music critics, making it a successful debut, and one of its songs would go on to open a bigger door for Tems in the coming years. “Higher”, an R&B tune in which she imbues genuine soulfulness and self-care was sampled on Future’s “Wait for you” featuring Drake, a song that would debut at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100, earning Tems her first number-one hit entry, making her the first African artiste to debut at number one.
The song also gave her a first Grammy award for Best Melodic Rap Performances, crazy how a song from your debut EP can push you this far after 2/3 years of its release, Tems did that. And the amazing part is that wasn’t her first appearance for the Grammys. Wizkid’s smash single “Essence”, which featured Tems was the breakthrough song. Tagged as the summer anthem, it was the first Nigerian song in history to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200, receiving a nomination at the 64th Grammy Awards for Best Global Music Performance. It also won a BET Award for Best Collaboration and multiple nominations across the music scene.
As bright as her career has been, there have been dark days too, in December 2020, Tems was arrested alongside her team after a performance in Uganda, on charges that she violated COVID-19 lockdown rules, and she spent two days behind bars in Uganda before her release. Charges were dropped with an apology from the Ugandan government. With snippets of problems coming her way and endless sexualization from the media, Tems has still been able to shake it off and just like her name, go for the crown. From writing for Rihanna for the Black Panther Soundtrack and Beyonce on her “Renaissance” Album, to cooking for Drake’s team during their recording sessions for Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” album.
In less than two months, she collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger for their new Tommy Jeans campaign and collaborated with Reebok in a campaign to re-introduce its most iconic sneaker, the 1983 white gum. Tems has become the most trusted voice from the content, breaking the bias and inspiring her generation with her story. With her debut album scheduled for this year, we can only expect greatness from Afrobeats’ First Lady.
Written by Edwin Quartey.
