Tems opens up to Kendrick Lamar about ditching Afrobeats for R&B

Tems, the Nigerian singer, has opened up to Kendrick Lamar, the award-winning US rapper, about navigating the pressure of success.

In a recent interview with Lamar, Tems said Afrobeats was not giving her the type of “spiritual stimulation” she wanted.

The singer said although the people she asked for advice kept saying she could only rise to stardom as an Afrobeats artiste, she said she “was prepared to die” for her belief and stick with R&B.

She also talked about her admiration for Celine Dion, the R&B legend.

On the pressures of success, Tems likened being in the public eye to what it must feel like for an animal in a zoo.

“I was prepared to die. I believed in myself so much that I didn’t really care if I never became anything or anyone,” she told Lamar.

“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. Everyone I asked for advice was like, ‘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.’

“And that’s not a lie, and it’s not a bad thing. But I felt in my heart that that’s okay. I’m okay with no one liking it, I just want to make this music. I want to make music that makes me pull my heart out, and if I can’t do that, I don’t want anything.

“I would rather do that and be broke than compromise. I didn’t really care about the money. It’s not that money is bad. Money is very good. But for me, even right now, I’m chasing a frequency.

“I don’t actually care where I end up. If I’m under a bridge and I have a way to make music, I’m going to be good. That’s what led me to meet the people that connected to that music.

“There was no indication that I would have ended up here. Nobody could have told me I would be sitting here in London speaking to you, Kendrick Lamar.”

Tems, born Temilade Openiyi, rose to global prominence in 2020 after featuring in ‘Essence’, a collaborative song with Wizkid.

Lamar, on the other hand, is a prominent US rapper.

He has sold over 70 million records in the US alone; while all his albums have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The rapper has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including 17 Grammy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Lamar has also received two American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a nomination for an Academy Award.