Grammy award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter, Temilade Openiyi, professionally known as Tems, has spoken up about the difficulties associated with fame and success as she reveals why she switched from Afrobeats to RnB.
In an interview that was included in the most recent issue of Interview Magazine, she discussed many topics with American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
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Tems stated that success frequently entails demands and difficulties, but she attempts to get over them by being herself.
The renowned musician also discussed her love of the RnB genre and how she had abandoned Afrobeats in favor of it. She claimed that her only goal in using the R&B genre was to spread a message.
She stated that every person she had asked for guidance from on her chosen career path had suggested she pursue Afrobeats instead.
Tems continued by saying that even after hearing the advice, she didn’t give up because her main objective wasn’t to get money.
She said,
“When you become more known or seen, it’s very easy to get caught up in, “What do people expect of me now?” But for me, it’s like, “What do I expect of myself now?” Because you’re the one that has to live with yourself, the one that has to sleep with the decisions that you make. Trusting yourself is so key, and I’m not going to stop trusting my guts just because people can see me now. It’s like being in a zoo. The animals don’t change their behavior just because you’re looking at them. They’re always going to be who they are. So why should I change?
I was prepared to die. 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.
The only way you can do this is Afrobeats. It’s not that your music is bad, it’s just that it doesn’t fit in Nigeria. Nigerians don’t like this.”