In his latest interview with American rapper Kendrick Lamar, Nigerian singer Tems reveals why she chose RnB because Afrobeat lacked spirituality. The one-time Grammy Award-winning superstar sat down with 17-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar for the latest issue of Interview Magazine to discuss "inspiration and obsession."
Kendrick Lamar would like to know how Temsi, real name Temilade Openiyi, became a RnB artist when she could have dabbled in the Nigerian genre of Afrobeat.
He asked, "How did you position yourself as a RnB versus someone who might have been put in a box and just focused on where you came from? How did you shape that for yourself?"
She replied that when she started making music, she was "ready to die", didn't care much about stardom or fans, and just wanted to get a "message". she went further that she used to listen to a lot of Nigerian music; However, it wasn't "intense" and "spiritual" enough for her, who wanted to make the kind of music that made her pull her heart out.
Kendrick Lamar and Tems backstage, Interview Magazine.
She recalled how people advised her that Afrobeats was the only way to make music and accepted by Nigerians, but she refused to compromise and make music only for commercial purposes.
She told Lamar, "I was ready to die. I believed in myself so much that I didn't really care if I was never going to be anything or anyone. I just wanted to get the message across. I wanted to delete my frequency. And I said, "Even if ten people hear it, it's fine." But I also listened to a lot of Nigerian music on the way and I didn't breathe much - I like Celine Dion so I like that intense feeling of jumping off a cliff.
That's how I want my music to feel all the time, and Afrobeats didn't necessarily give me that kind of stimulation. Everyone I asked for advice said, "The only way you can do it is with Afrobeats. It's not that your music is bad, it's just not suitable for Nigeria. Nigerians don't like it."
And that's not wrong or bad. But I felt in my heart that it's okay. I'm fine if nobody likes it, I just want to make this music. I want to make music that makes me. move my heart, and if I can't do that, I don't want anything, I'd rather do that and be broken than compromise.
