Tems on why protecting her peace has become her greatest success
STYLING DUNSIN WRIGHT
TEXT HATTIE COLLINS
With two Grammys, an Oscar nomination and a string of record-breaking firsts, Tems has become one of the defining voices of her generation. As she begins a new chapter, the Nigerian superstar sits down for a conversation with Hattie Collins.
The UK is in the middle of a heatwave, but you wouldn’t know that from meeting superstar Tems on a sizzling summer afternoon in an unassuming office block somewhere in London’s Shepherd’s Bush. She’s found behind imposing double doors, snuggled in a Young Thug Sp5der hoodie in a corner of her “studio, slash wardrobe, slash getting ready space?” she wonders, trying to figure out herself exactly what this L-shaped sanctuary might be. Whatever it is, it’s an oasis of calm; soothing jazz plays and the soft furnishings are sumptuous. Tems’ demeanor, all 5 foot 9 inches of it, is in sync with her surroundings. Curled up on a sofa, she talks softly and mindfully, occasionally taking a lengthy pause to consider a response. I like to curate my vibe. I need to be in a state of calm all the time,” she says of her serene set-up. “My life can be chaotic so, to the best of my ability, I try to make things…” a pause and a smile, “peaceful”.
I like to curate my vibe. I need to be in a state of calm all the time,” she says of her serene set-up. “My life can be chaotic so, to the best of my ability, I try to make things…” a pause and a smile, “peaceful”.
TEMS
COAT DAVID KOMA. SHOES STELLA MCCARTNEY
KNIT, SHIRT, EARRINGS AND NECKLACE ALL CHANEL
Indeed, this relaxed repose is in stark contrast to the storm of success that surrounds the 31-year-old. Two Grammys. Four BETs awards. Two American Music Awards. An Oscar nomination. A number of milestones: the first African woman to have a song surpass one billion streams on Spotify (for “Wait For U” with over 10.5 billion streams to date); the first Nigerian woman to sell more than 10 million units in the US (with over 25 million sold worldwide); the first African person to debut at number one in the US, and the first African person to receive multiple Grammy wins. Over two billion views on YouTube with around 25 million audio streams a week globally. Collaborations with Beyoncé, Grace Jones, Rihanna, Drake, Future, Davido, Disclosure, J. Cole, Justin Bieber, Asake and Wizkid. A US number-one single with Future and Drake. A UK number one single with Dave.
It’s exhausting just listing her awards, achievements and accolades. So how is life for Tems in 2026? “I’m feeling good,” she grins, flipping her two phones face down on the table. “I’m in a good place, thank God. I’m settling into myself, especially when it comes to music. I’m not trying to prove who I am. I know what’s for me and what’s not for me. I’m trying to take everything in and make the best of every single moment.”
She may be practicing mindfulness, but there’s no sign of Tems slowing down. Despite technically being between albums — she is currently working on the follow-up to 2024 debut record Born in the Wild — she has already had two huge hits this year. There’s the self-worth centering “What You Need” (sitting at 154 million streams at time of print) taken from 2025 EP Love Is a Kingdom, and the chart-topping “Raindance” with Dave — “He’s very musically talented, very musically inclined” — from the south London rapper’s third album The Boy Who Played the Harp. In June, she joined Stevie Wonder to perform for Barack and Michelle Obama at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. “I was definitely starstruck. I’m not gonna lie. He has some kind of charm,” she admits of meeting the former president. “He knows how to make anybody laugh. I don’t know what he said to me, but the way I started laughing, I was like, ‘Wait, why are all 32 of my teeth out right now?’” (Her delivery might be deadpan, but Tems is funny. Very funny). That same month, Tems was asked to perform a cover of “Fu-Gee-La” in tribute to Lauryn Hill at the BET Awards. “Lauryn Hill is my GOAT ,” she says, eyes widening. “That’s a huge honor for me. Of all the things I could have dreamed might happen,” — she gestures to the plaques on the wall, the racks of clothes and the boxes of vintage jewelry that surround her — “I didn’t even dream about that. I couldn’t have.”
TEMS WEARS JACKET, EARRINGS AND NECKLACE ALL SCHIAPARELLI. PANTS AND SHOES BOTH STYLIST’S OWN
Tems was born Temilade Anna Openiyi in Lagos to a Nigerian mother and British-Nigerian father, who divorced when Tems was five (she doesn’t discuss her dad). In Yoruba, Temilade means “The crown is mine”, which might suggest that Tems was always supposed to be here. Except, she wasn’t. None of this was written in the stars. None of it was encouraged and supported. And yet she made it anyway. Tems made her own crown.
A quiet child who didn’t speak until she was three, she started writing poems and songs aged nine although her unusual singing voice — a husky low-set mezzo soprano as sweetly soft as it can be deliciously sharp — was barely tolerated, let alone encouraged. “I wasn’t told I was a good singer. It was more like, ‘How are we gonna tell her that she [can’t sing]?’” she recalls.
Lagos is a different place. It breeds the strongest people. You need strength and resilience to live and to find love in Lagos. It’s like a parallel universe. Everybody’s on the grind, always.
TEMS
TEMS WEARS DRESS AND SHOES BOTH ALAÏA
Fortunately, her high-school music tutor Mr Sosan thought otherwise, teaching the teenage Tems to play piano and encouraging her to love how she sounded. “He told me there was strength in being unique.” But she had no connections to the music industry and while D’banj’s “Oliver Twist” opened the door for Nigerian superstars such as Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy in the 2010s, there weren’t many Nigerian women singers seeing success on their level. “I wasn’t taught that I was necessarily valued or worth something,” she says. So she went to Johannesburg to study economics, later returning to Lagos to work a nine to five.
But she couldn’t let music go. So she taught herself to produce, quit her marketing job and borrowed $12 from an auntie to upload her first song to Spotify. “I stopped relying on other people’s opinions. I said to myself, ‘I really love music, and I’m not giving it up.’
The release of debut single “Mr Rebel” in 2018 helped the singer establish an audience. But it was writing a song with Wizkid that changed everything. The searingly seductive duet “Essence”, which seamlessly unites Afrobeat, Afroswing and R&B, became the song of 2020, ubiquitous in households, dance floors and car stereos from Lagos to London, Los Angeles to Lahore. Obama was a fan, as was Justin Bieber. Soon Drake came knocking and she featured on Certified Loverboy’s “Fountains” with Champagne Papi.
Her music wrapped Afrobeats, alté and R&B into one which, when combined with her voice, created something so very special. And in demand. In 2022, Future sampled her vocal from “Higher” on the Grammy-winning “Wait For U”, featuring Drake and she became the first Nigerian woman to score a Billboard number one. In 2022, she performed alongside Grace Jones (Grace Jones!) on “Move”, which she also co-wrote with Beyoncé (Beyoncé!) for Renaissance. When Ryan Coogler was looking for someone to work on the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , he approached Kendrick Lamar and Tems. She covered “No Woman, No Cry” and wrote “Lift Me Up” for Rihanna, bagging an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
TEMS WEARS DRESS BALENCIAGA. EARRINGS TEMS’ OWN
Tems has been guided throughout this time by her team, which includes managers Muyiwa Awoniyi and Wale Davies who she met not long after releasing “Mr Rebel”. Muyiwa was a music exec and Davies was in the rap duo Show Dem Camp. He also co-wrote the BAFTA-winning film My Father’s Shadow (2025) with his brother, the director Akínọlá Davies Jr. “I think her magic is being able to connect with her emotions,” Wale tells me over email. “Her music is a direct translation of her emotions and her inner self into words, melodies and songs. Being able to do that without any buffer is a real form of magic. She is emotionally aware, kind, generous and true to herself at every stage.”
Grace, generosity and gentleness are words Tems seems to be led by; she is actively using her platform to create change, conversation, connection. Each year, she hosts a Wardrobe Sale in Lagos, the proceeds of which go to Women At Risk International Foundation (WARIF) and the Margaret Ohiani orphanage that Muyiwa’s mother supports. Why these specific charities? “There’s so much going on in Nigeria that you sometimes feel helpless. People are getting kidnapped, people are getting assaulted. I do what is in my control. But I don’t know if it’s enough. I’m just one human being.”
Despite its political strifes, it’s a culturally rich time for Nigeria and its diaspora with the ongoing success of painter Slawn, author Oyinkan Braithwaite, fashion’s Mowalola Ogunlesi and Kenneth Ize, filmmakers Wale and Akínọlá Davies Jr, and of course Tems, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Ayra Starr and Rema. What does Tems think is the country’s secret sauce?” I don’t know what the secret sauce is, but I know it’s there because it’s not just in entertainment. Almost all the World Cup teams had a Nigerian playing for them, so it’s in sports, it’s in medicine, it’s in education. We’re everywhere, for some reason,” she says, laughing. “There’s a Nigerian in Antarctica. If you went to the moon, to Mars, you might find a Nigerian there too!” There’s a gorgeous song on Love Is a Kingdom called “Lagos Love”; is there a difference between London and Lagos romance? “Yes, there is,” she says immediately. “Because Lagos is a different place. It breeds the strongest people. You need strength and resilience to live and to find love in Lagos. It’s like a parallel universe. Everybody’s on the grind, always. Even enjoyment feels like it has a little bit of work to it. The environment is very survival based.”
I don’t know what the secret sauce is with Nigeria, but I know it’s there… it’s not just in entertainment… it’s in medicine, it’s in education. We’re everywhere, for some reason. There’s a Nigerian in Antarctica. If you went to the moon, to Mars, you might find a Nigerian there too!
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55 TEMS WEARS TOP DREAMING ELI. EARRINGS 4ELEMENT. HEADWEAR STYLIST’S OWN
In August, Tems launched the London iteration of Leading Vibe, a foundation she set up in Lagos which is aimed at amplifying the next generation of girls and women who will shape music. “There’s a lot of industries where women may not feel as confident in taking up space, and I think music is one of them, particularly producing and engineering. It feels like a world where we don’t know how to find our feet, so maybe we shouldn’t embark on it at all. But more women are coming out as producers and it’s encouraging more women.”
She’s currently in the studio working on album number two. “It’s definitely more R&B leaning. It’s more melancholic. It’s like a river, it’s very smooth. It’s very mellow, lo-fi.” Her approach to songwriting, from “Essence” to “Raindance” is completely instinctual. “It starts with music because I don’t write on paper. I freestyle. Melodies and sometimes words come out. With ‘Raindance’, they” — Dave, producer Kyle, guitarist Jo, engineer Jonny — “gave me a mic and I freestyled into my phone for 30 minutes and we pieced it together afterwards.” That freestyle has racked up over half a billion Spotify streams and 213 million YouTube views to date. She obviously loves the process. “Writing music helps me release pain and it helps me to heal,” she agrees, noting she wrote “What You Need” seven years ago while going through a rough breakup. “By the time I’m done, everything I felt, it’s gone. I can let the whole situation go. I can forgive. I can move on.”
When she’s not songwriting, she’s making her own teas, playing PlayStation and watching football (she supports Manchester United and has a stake in San Diego FC). She also, as the rails around us attest to, loves shopping (name checking Torishéju, Tolu Coker, Dilara Fındıkoğlu, Conner Ives, Lisa Folawiyo, and Onalaja among her favorites). Her brother Adetunji is visiting from Dublin and after this interview they’re hitting the shops. “I’m going to Dover Street Market. I love it there.”
TEMS WEARS VINTAGE DRESS, GIANFRANCO FERRÉ. EARRINGS 4ELEMENT. RING ONALAJA
Can she still do “normal” things or is she too famous now? “I used to be really freaked out [getting recognized]. But now I don’t think too much about it. I’m going out today and I don’t have security. If you catch me, sure, we could take a picture. I want to enjoy every moment that I’m alive. It’s too short to worry about who’s gonna see me and what people are gonna say.”
It’s apparent Tems is in a place of spiritual contentment; she radiates a sturdy sense of self-assuredness. “Learning more about myself helps me to understand life more,” she points out. “I can walk into a room and be more confident now because I understand human beings better. I don’t feel shame if someone’s trying to shame me. I just see that they’re going through something. Hopefully, you’ll reach a point where you realize what life is all about: connection and love.” She’s been brilliant at separating the art from the commerce, the music from the business. “I don’t ruminate anymore, and that’s coming from experience of the industry, of people, and understanding what the industry has to offer. Wanting fame is not a bad thing, but there’s always a cost. I know the price that I’m willing to [pay]. I know the direction I want to go and the goals I want to have.” What are they? “I want to have a life that’s free. I want to wake up at 50 and decide I’m doing an album and not for reasons of relevancy, or because I need to get “back in the game”. I want to do whatever I want because I’ve curated a life that I enjoy. That way,” she says, flipping the phones back face up, ready to get back to business, “the music can remain true and be real to me.”
TEMS WEARS TOP OLUWALANÍ. HEADWEAR STYLIST’S OWN. NECKLACE MADOMORPHO.
PHOTOGRAPHY CAMPBELL ADDY
STYLING DUNSIN WRIGHT
STYLING ASSISTANTS DAISY MACDONALD, MH’YA MCLEAN
HAIR AMIDAT GIWA
MAKEUP KAYLA PEREZ
NAILS ELLA VIVII
SET DESIGN JULIA DIAS
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR YAGAMOTO
PRODUCTION LAFOUR STUDIOS
PRODUCER BIANCA JAVOGUE
NEW SCHOOL AGENCY PRODUCER EMILY GLEESON
PRODUCTION MANAGER PEG MCMILLAN
DIGITAL TECHNICIAN NIC BEZZINA. TAILOR LAIMA
FIRST PHOTO ASSISTANT GEORGE HUTTON
PHOTO ASSISTANTS SAMUEL GURUNG, WILBERT LATI
STYLING ASSISTANTS BEVERLY-CELINE TAGOE, NNENNA, ZAK DEWHIRST
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT OLIVIA FERNANDA
SET-DESIGN ASSISTANTS MATTHEW PAYNE, SAM EDYN, TOBY BROUGHTON
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