Top 15 Tems Quotes

Nigerian singer-songwriter (born 1995)

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Temilade Openiyi (born 11 June, 1995), known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after she was featured on Wizkid's 2020 single Essence, which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 after the release of a remixed version with an additional feature from Justin Bieber, and earned her a Grammy Award nomination. That same year, she was featured on Drake's song, "Fountains".
Tems is the first Nigerian to win two Grammy Awards to her name.

Bio from: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Native Name: Temilade Openiyi

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I think it's important to be real with yourself and the people around you.

When did I realize I was blown? When I got a DM from RiRi.

I can understand, when it's the speaking.

It’s not necessarily people, it’s really just a system. But once you’re an artist you’re not really an artist, you’re an entertainer – your life is entertainment for people. It’s a system of distraction.

I think the perfectionism is definitely a Nigerian thing. For me, it’s definitely Lagos. Because if you check around the world, Nigerians are always the best at whatever they’re doing, whether that’s braids, hair, make-up, doctors… They’ll give you food and it’ll be over good, so that when you’re paying them, you know why.

When I see any one of you gracing a stage, I feel like that’s me. We’re all winning and we’re about to move in like a tsunami… know that love lives on this side. As we show the world how it’s done.

I don’t want to be somebody that follows; I don’t want to be the ‘after’ person.

The more power the people have, the greater we become as a whole.

What I hope that God does through me, is for the image of the African woman to be changed to something luxurious, or desired, or sought after. For the demand of the African woman to go up… Let us not be chasing foreign things, let us be something to be chased. And that can’t just happen with me; it’s a together thing. It has to happen with a whole industry of women already doing real and amazing things. That’s the future.

But I wasn’t thinking about how to be better in the limelight, I was just thinking of how to be a better person in general, the best possible version of myself. And I think once you start being visible, a lot of these things that you didn’t know existed start coming to light, you start knowing yourself more, too.

I had a show the night before, so on Friday I was just sleeping the whole day.

Well, I’ve never felt more connected with my fans like that before. It just felt like we were all in one room and it was a lot of people, but it felt like we might as well have been in a big ass living room, just vibing. I really felt like that experience and the presence was just incredibly intense. I haven’t let go so much as I did before that day in terms of performing.

Locally, I'm definitely hoping for Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Niniola. I'm also hoping for my friend, Dami Oniru. I'm hoping we can release some of our collaborations. Internationally, I'd like Stormzy, Ms Banks, and maybe Khalid. This is the longest shot ever but I want to work with Frank Ocean. Koffee as well! She's top on my list.

It was just really crazy. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. That was when I realized things have actually changed.

Everything happened organically. The fact that so many people resonate with it makes me feel really good. I'm happy they can feel it.