{"id":20016,"date":"2025-10-07T14:54:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T13:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=20016"},"modified":"2025-10-07T14:58:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T13:58:24","slug":"i-didnt-feel-safe-i-didnt-feel-seen-why-nigerian-star-tems-is-clearing-a-path-for-african-women-in-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/07\/i-didnt-feel-safe-i-didnt-feel-seen-why-nigerian-star-tems-is-clearing-a-path-for-african-women-in-music\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I didn\u2019t feel safe, I didn\u2019t feel seen\u2019: Why Nigerian star Tems is clearing a path for African women in music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From Lagos to the Grammys, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems has conquered the global stage without compromising who she is. \u201cAuthenticity is everything to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing I cannot compromise on because that\u2019s all I have \u2014 who I really am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Tems stepped on stage at New York\u2019s MetLife Stadium for the FIFA Club World Cup halftime show in July, the world was watching. The 30-year-old admits performing for millions of global viewers was nerve-wracking. Still, she reflects on the moment with gratitude. \u201cIt was an honor to just be there,\u201d she says.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, her performance was their first introduction to the soulful popstar who has become one of Africa\u2019s best-known cultural exports. For many others, it was confirmation of what they already knew: Tems is rewriting the rules of global music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born Temilade Openiyi in Lagos, Nigeria she started writing songs at a young age, teaching herself to produce music when few were willing to give her a shot. \u201cIt was really hard to get people to take me seriously \u2014 not just as a producer, but as a singer, period,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel safe, and I didn\u2019t feel seen, and I didn\u2019t feel supported for a very long time.\u201d Those early struggles did not derail her: instead, they became her fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rise to superstardom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\"Tems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tems accepts Best International Act during the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. – Aaron J. Thornton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That grit powered her rise to superstardom. Tems collaborated with Wizkid on \u201cEssence\u201d in 2020, which became the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2022, Tems made history again when vocal snippets from her song \u201cHigher\u201d were sampled in Future and Drake\u2019s Grammy-winning \u201cWait for U,\u201d which debuted at No. 1 on the same chart \u2014 another first for Nigerians. Her own single \u201cFree Mind\u201d climbed the US charts, while her voice and lyrics found their way onto Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u201cMove\u201d and Rihanna\u2019s \u201cLift Me Up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, she cemented her place among music\u2019s elite winning a Grammy for Best African Music Performance for \u201cLove Me JeJe,\u201d a reimagining of a Nigerian classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her rapid ascent, Tems insists that fame has never been the goal. \u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking, is this working or not working? I was just like, well, I\u2019m going to be me. If being me lands me under the bridge, cool. If it lands me on top of the mountain, cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That fearless authenticity has become her trademark.\"Nigerian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigerian singer Tems at the launch of her Leading Vibe Initiative in Lagos, August 8, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, she\u2019s channeling that conviction into something bigger than herself. In August, Tems launched the Leading Vibe Initiative<\/a>, a mentorship and training platform designed to support women in music. The initiative hopes to reshape an industry that often sidelines female talent. \u201cThere are so many talented women that can be producers, managers, audio engineers \u2014 but they\u2019re not even visible,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, I want to make them visible and create a space where we can redefine the perspective of women in music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the initiative, which is open to women ages 18-35, Tems chose to begin in Lagos, but her ambitions don\u2019t stop there. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely taking this beyond Nigeria. Actually, we\u2019re going to Kenya next,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are women everywhere who just need to feel seen. All they need is that platform, all they need is that chance, and I really believe it\u2019s going to change the shape of the music industry for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The launch event in Lagos drew a passionate crowd of dozens of young women \u2014 singers, producers and engineers. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how many people have come and supported us and even the amount of talent we have,\u201d Tems said at the event. \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m blown away and I can\u2019t wait. This is a journey we\u2019re all taking together, and I couldn\u2019t find a better way to start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her vision for Leading Vibe is deeply personal. She remembers hustling from studio to studio, trying to find allies in a male-dominated industry. Gatekeepers only began to pay attention once her music achieved what they could not. \u201cPeople started taking me seriously when my music got to a place they couldn\u2019t fathom,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were like, how did she do that? We didn\u2019t give this to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFame is not what you want,\u201d Tems reflects. \u201cYou could be famous and uncomfortable, famous and unsuccessful. What you really want is to be comfortable, you want to be able to provide [for yourself] and fame is not always that.\u201d\"Tems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tems performs during halftime at the 2023 NBA All Star Game on February 19, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. – Tim Nwachukwu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, I think it\u2019s very important for you to define who you are, because if you don\u2019t, other people will,\u201d she adds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By building a movement for women across Africa and beyond, Tems\u2019 most significant legacy may not be the music she creates, but the doors she opens for others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Lagos to the Grammys, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems has conquered the global stage without compromising who she is. \u201cAuthenticity is everything to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing I cannot compromise on because that\u2019s all I have \u2014 who I really am.\u201d When Tems stepped on stage at New York\u2019s MetLife Stadium for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,25,4,5,18,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-international","category-lifestyle","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-19-e1759845418972.png?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20016"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20021,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20016\/revisions\/20021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}