Tems

Temilade Openiyi (born 11 June 1995), known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Wizkid's 2020 single "Essence", which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of the remix version with Justin Bieber. The song earned her a Grammy Award nomination. That same year, she was featured on the song "Fountains" by Canadian rapper Drake.

In 2020, Tems released her debut extended play (EP), For Broken Ears. She signed with RCA Records to release her second EP, If Orange Was a Place (2021). In 2022, Tems' vocals from her song "Higher" were sampled by Future on his single "Wait for U", which led to her being credited as a guest artist alongside Drake. The song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first African artist and second Nigerian artist to have a song do so on the chart. The song earned her the Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance. Tems covered Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack album in July 2022 and in the same month, her song "Free Mind" (from her debut EP) debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 46 and breaking the female record for longest charting number one song on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. She also co-wrote and rendered background vocals on the song "Lift Me Up" by Rihanna, which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

In 2024, Tems released her debut studio album Born in the Wild to critical acclaim. The album reached the top 30 in the Netherlands, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24. She embarked on her ongoing Born in the Wild Tour, a supporting world tour. Tems won a Grammy Award from three nominations at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards: her song "Love Me JeJe" won Best African Music Performance, while Born in the Wild was nominated for Best Global Music Album and its third single "Burning" was nominated for Best R&B Song. Tems became the first Nigerian artist with multiple Grammy Awards.

Throughout her career, Tems has received several accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Award, four NAACP Image Awards, four BET Awards and three Soul Train Music Awards.

Tems was born on 11 June 1995, in Lagos, Nigeria. Her first name Temilade means "the crown is mine" in Yoruba; she is of Yoruba ethnicity. Her family relocated to the United Kingdom when she was an infant, then returned to Nigeria following her parents' divorce, when she was five years old. Tems resided in Ilupeju before moving to Lekki and later Ajah. She attended Dowen College for her secondary education and Monash South Africa for her tertiary education, where she obtained a degree in economics.

In high school, she was frequently bullied because of her voice. At 11 years old, she joined her school choir and soon began singing in falsetto but was noticed by her music teacher who coached her and taught her how to play the piano. Tems often practiced singing with her brother, who often accompanied her on guitar.

In 2018, Tems quit her job in digital marketing to pursue a career in music. She began to learn self production skills on YouTube and on July 18th, 2018, she released her debut single, "Mr Rebel", a song which she produced by herself. On 7 August 2019, she released the single "Try Me". In 2020, DJ Edu chose her as one of "ten artists to watch" that year. On 23 April 2020, Tems was featured alongside fellow Nigerian singer Davido on a reworked version of American singer-songwriter Khalid and English electronic music duo Disclosure's single, "Know Your Worth".

On 25 September 2020, Tems released her debut extended play, For Broken Ears. It was produced primarily by her and the single "Damages" from the EP became another follow up hit to "Try Me", peaking at number one on the Nigerian Apple Music chart and number six on the then-newly launched TurnTable Top 50 chart and garnering five million views on YouTube. On 30 October 2020, Tems was featured on fellow Nigerian singer Wizkid's single, "Essence", from the latter's fourth studio album, Made in Lagos. The song earned her a number one spot on BBC 1Xtra Airplay Chart. and also earned her first career entry on Billboard Hot 100 at number 9. Tems won a Soul Train Music Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Global Music Performance. On 8 November 2020, Tems was included in The Future Awards Africa: Class of 2020.