'No one wanted to produce for me back then' - Tems

Grammy Award winner, Tems, recently shared her difficult journey to stardom in a chat with a media presenter. In the online trending video, the talented Nigerian songstress talked about one of her painful experiences when she was still an upcoming artiste.

In response to the question from a kid broadcaster, Tems said that many producers refused to produce for her years back when she was still an upcoming artiste. However, not deterred by the rejections from the recording companies and producers, Tems turned the problem into an opportunity to learn music production and started producing her own songs.

Looking at her current career status, it is evident she made the right decision – she never gave up her passion for music, but rather added more skill and energy to her creative acts.

“Apart from singing and songwriting, you are also a producer. So how did you begin to explore producing music?” she was asked.

“No one wanted to produce for me back then, and so I said, ‘you know what, I can do this myself.’ So I was like, yeah, and it made me create my sounds. If no one will do it for you, you do it yourself,” Tems responded.

She also advised upcoming musicians to keep going and work hard to achieve their dreams. Her experience is akin to what many talented upcoming musicians face in Nigeria – most of them end up not achieving their dream.

The Nigerian music industry can be quite difficult for new artists, most music youngsters are overwhelmed with several challenges, ranging from stiff competition to the high cost of producing music (audio and video), rejections from record labels, as well as deceptive and unfavorable treatments from recording companies and promotion companies.

In February 2023, Tems added a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance to her collections; for her contribution to Future’s song “Wait For U.” That same month, she also won the Best Female MVP at the Soundcity MVP Award 2023.

She released her debut seven-track EP titled “For Broken Ears,” on September 25, 2020, and on September 15, 2021, she released her second – a five-track EP titled “If Orange Was a Place.”