Temilade Openiyi, popularly referred to as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and file producer. FILE PHOTO | POOL

A younger artist from Lagos, Nigeria who began writing songs to deal with teenage solitude has achieved the best accolade within the music trade.

On an evening when the large weapons of African music which have dominated on the Grammy Awards, in recent times together with Angelique Kidjo and Burna Boy didn’t clinch an award, up stepped singer, songwriter and producer, Tems.

Tems who has written music for and collaborated with superstars like Rihanna and Beyonce received the Greatest Melodic Rap Efficiency Grammy for the music Look ahead to You, sharing the award with rappers, Future and Drake.

The music which sampled the tune Greater from her 2020 EP For Damaged Ears debuted on the No 1 on the prized Billboard Scorching 100 pop charts within the US.

In 2021, she and compatriot Wizkid loved international success with the hit music Essence, a US High 10 hit, which was nominated within the Greatest International Music Efficiency class on the Grammys final yr.

Her dreamy vocals have appeared on among the largest songs of the previous couple of years and he or she might not also have a full album to her identify however Tems has attained sufficient affect by collaborations and songwriting to push her identify to the very high of the sport.

The 27-year-old Lagos-born singer-songwriter whose official identify is Temilade Openiyi spent a part of her childhood within the UK earlier than returning to Nigeria on the age of 5.

She attended faculty in Nigeria and South Africa, the place she discovered the way to play the piano and practised singing along with her brother.

As a younger shy woman, she saved her personal firm and located a channel to specific herself by writing poetry and songs.

In 2018 she stop her digital advertising job to pursue music full-time, studying manufacturing abilities on YouTube. She developed a mode that could be a departure from the everyday Afrobeats, by fusing R&B with soul, reggae and pop.

Utilizing only a laptop computer and earphones, Tems produced her debut single Mr Insurgent, an emotional music devoted to her mom who had suffered a damaged leg after their residence was attacked by burglars.

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Her second single was Looku Looku earlier than the large break got here with the sensible Attempt Me in 2019 which she declared a music for the “underrated, understated individuals who have been suppressed from use and abuse”.

A yr later Tems was featured in a reworked model of Know Your Value by American singer Khalid and the group Disclosure.

Her first EP For Damaged Ears launched in September 2020 was a deep reflection on relationships and despair, that includes the hit Damages.

Her worldwide publicity hit its peak in 2021 along with her characteristic on two large international hits: the remix of Essence by her mentor Wizkid that includes Justin Bieber and Fountains by Drake.

She was signed to RCA Data in 2021 the American label on which she launched her second EP If Orange Was a Place that includes the catchy single Loopy Tings.

That very same yr, Apple Music featured her on the Up Subsequent programme which gives a worldwide platform for rising music stars.

Tems was named the Greatest Worldwide Act on the 2022 BET Awards within the US, utilizing her acceptance speech to encourage girls to chase their desires.

“The place I’m from in Lagos, this can be a dream, as you might be watching me, think about your self as me, you are supposed to be right here too,” she mentioned.

All eyes will probably be on her at subsequent month’s Academy Awards, the place she is nominated for Greatest Unique Music for co-writing Elevate Me Up by Rihanna from the Black Panther: Wakanda Ceaselessly soundtrack.

Tems additionally contributed her model of Bob Marley’s No Lady No Cry to the soundtrack of the identical movie.

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She additionally co-wrote and was featured, together with the legendary singer Grace Jones, within the music Transfer from Beyonce’s extremely acclaimed Renaissance album.

“It’s unimaginable. I get to work with individuals who 5 years in the past have been on my playlist,” she advised Rolling Stone journal on the Grammy Awards Purple Carpet.

“I used to be jamming to them and now I’m working with them, it’s such a pleasure and I really feel like that is just the start.”

One other of her idols, Adele is now a giant admirer of the Nigerian and has been filmed singing alongside to Attempt Me.

Tems can also be a dressmaker along with her line of clothes and likewise hosts her personal radio present on Apple Music.

When Rolling Stone Journal declared Tems “the longer term” in 2021, few would have predicted that the longer term would come this quickly for the Nigerian singer.

As she mentioned after final week’s Grammy success this may very well be ‘just the start’ of extraordinary success for an artist who has the world at her ft.

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