This victory marks Tems’ second Grammy win, further cementing her status as one of Africa’s most influential and groundbreaking musical talents.
By Emmanuel ‘Waziri’ Okoro
Nigerian R&B and Alternative singer, songwriter, and record producer, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has added another prestigious accolade to her growing list of achievements.
Tems clinched the Grammy Award for ‘Best African Music Performance’, a category introduced to celebrate the vibrant and diverse sounds emerging from the continent.
Her song, “Love Me Jeje”, triumphed over stiff competition from notable artistes such as Asake & Wizkid’s “MMS”, Chris Brown’s “Sensational” featuring Lojay and Davido, Yemi Alade’s “Tomorrow”, and Burna Boy’s “Higher”. This victory marks her second Grammy win, further cementing her status as one of Africa’s most influential and groundbreaking musical talents.
In her acceptance speech, Tems expressed gratitude to her team and a higher power, saying, “Dear God, thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing me this team”.
While Tems celebrated her win in the ‘Best African Music Performance’ category, she faced near-misses in other nominations. Her single, “Burning”, was nominated for ‘Best R&B Song’ but lost to SZA’s “Saturn”. Additionally, her highly-anticipated debut album, Born in the Wild, was nominated alongside fellow Nigerian artiste, Rema’s HEIS but was ultimately bested by Matt B & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Alkebulan II.
See the complete winners’ list here.