That sense of being an outcast continued into high school. “I just wasn’t popular; I cried a lot, I was very shy. I would cover my head with a blazer… - Tems

I got exposed to a couple of studios, and I met a few producers and started seeing the process of music being made. It made me question, “What is this?” I’d been only exploring piano and guitar at the time, and now you’re telling me I can do more than I’m already doing?

Music is my happy place. Music is the only thing that makes me feel truly at home. If I'm sad, it's the only thing I can run to. If someone says to me "here's a billion dollars, just chill" I would still do music. I mean, I'd collect the billion dollars and then do music. That's how bad it is. That's how much I love it.

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.