12.8.2025
Nigeria’s world famous music diva said at the start of her career, she was not ready and keen to pay the price of becoming a top female artist.
Tems with two Grammy Awards to her name told the BBC in an interview that it was hard for her at the start and she struggled to be taken seriously.
“I realised that there’s always a cost. There’s always a price that you pay. And a lot of those prices I wasn’t willing to pay and there wasn’t a lot of options,” Tems said.
Tems told the BBC she wants “to change the way women see themselves in music”, and hopes to achieve this through her new platform, The Leading Vibe Initiative.
Asked what advice she would give to young women wanting to crack the industry, she said: “I think it’s important to have an idea of what you want for yourself, what your brand is, what’s your boundary.
“What are the things that you wouldn’t do for fame and the things that you would do?”
Tems, who has scored hits with the likes of Love Me Jeje and Free Mind, said anyone trying to break into the industry must be passionate about their craft.
“It’s not everybody that sings that loves music. If I wasn’t famous, I would still be doing music. I would be in some kind of jazz club… randomly on a Friday night,” she said.
Tems...