The rise of Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, in the last two years is nothing short of amazing in the Nigerian music industry.
The 27-year-old female songwriter and record producer has seen her work receive global recognition after clinching two awards in the 2022 Black Entertainment Television Network Award (BET).
On Sunday, the 2022 BET award ceremony, celebrating Black excellence in Music, Culture and Sports, was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, USA.
The “Crazy Things” singer won the ‘Best International Act’ ahead of fellow Nigerian Fireboy DML and Fally Ipupa from DR Congo.
Tems also got recognition for her collaboration with music sensation Wizkid on his hit song “Essence” which featured Justin Bieber.
Born to a Nigerian mother and a British-Nigerian father, her family moved to the United Kingdom shortly after her birth but returned to Nigeria with her mother and brother at age 5, after her parents divorced.
She had her University Education in South Africa, where she got noticed by her music teacher for her musical prowess.
In 2018, Tems quit her job to focus on Music and released her debut single, “Mr Rebel”, before featuring on a reworked version of American singer Khalid’s single, “Know Your Worth”.
In 2020, the singing sensation released her debut extended play, “For Broken Ears”, but her hit song “Try Me”, peaked at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music chart and garnered over five million views on YouTube.
In October 2020, Wizkid released his fourth studio album, ‘Made In Lagos’, with Tems featuring on the hit track, “Essence”.
The song earned her first career entry on Billboard Hot 100 at number 9 and a number one spot on BBC 1Xtra Airplay Chart.
She has since won several awards and been recognized globally on different platforms, receiving a Grammy Award nomination for ‘Best Global Music Performance’ on 8 November 2020.
A reworked version of “Essence” which featured Canadian singer Justin Bieber, propelled the song to reach number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 on 3 September 2021.
Tems has also worked with global stars like Drake and Future, with only the Sky being the starting point for this female Nigerian sensation.