Source: Jim Dyson / Getty
Nigerian superstar Tems singer turns 29 today.
While already a rising star back home, she first began to turn heads in the USA in 2020 when she was featured on Wizkid‘s Afrobeats track “Essence.” Justin Bieber added a verse to the remix, catapulting her to new heights and even earning her a Grammy Nomination.
From there, she was given her own song, Fountains on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, that same year. After an EP, being tapped for Future’s “Wait For U” –leading to her becoming the first African artist to debut at number on the Billboard Hot 100– covering Bob Marley for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, she’s become a beloved international artist and a mainstay in American culture.
Now, she’s seeing even more success with her debut album, Born in the Wild, released earlier this month.
Her ability to meld her cultural roots into R&B has helped her appeal, and in an Interview Magazine feature in 2023, Kendrick Lamar asked her what it was like to join the two.
“I was prepared to die,” she said. “I believed in myself so much that I didn’t really care if I never became anything or anyone. I just wanted to get a message out. I wanted to get my frequency out. And I was like, ‘Even if ten people hear this, it’s fine.’ But also along the way, I used to listen to a lot of Nigerian music and I wasn’t getting a lot of spiritual—I love Celine Dion, so, I love that intense feeling of, I’m about to jump off a cliff. That’s how I want my music to feel all the time, and Afrobeats wasn’t necessarily giving me that type of stimulation.”
Music aside, Tems also gets a lot of looks thanks to the occasional thirst trap on social media. See some of her most gorgeous Instagram moments below.
