I don’t care about the money; I just want to get my music out there - Tems

Grammy-Award-winning, Nigerian singer and songwriter, Temilade Openiyi, has opened up about her commitment to her music journey and how she copes with success.

In a recent interview with American rapper Kendrick Lamar published in Interview Magazine, Tems confessed that she was willing to face significant challenges when transitioning from the widely acclaimed Afrobeat genre to pursue R&B.

She shared that she is still focused on getting her craft out there and that she doesn't care about the money.

“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,” she disclosed.

Reflecting on the advice she received from others at the time of her decision, Tems believed that Afrobeats did not align with her desired emotional intensity, despite many urging her to pursue Afrobeats,

“I believed in myself so much that I didn’t really care if I never became anything or anyone. 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.’ 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.” she stated.

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