The overexcited waitress has given us away. When Temilade Openiyi scooches into a corner booth at a central London restaurant—half an hour late, hood up, a small entourage trailing behind—we have about five minutes of good chat before her cover is blown.
“Are you Tems?!” the waitress interrupts, wide-eyed. Openiyi pauses, unsure whether to acknowledge or deflect. Eventually, she finishes stirring her tea and looks up. “Yes, hi.” The waitress squeals and disappears. Moments later, she returns breathless to announce that she has told the manager that Tems—or “Tems!” as she shrieks—is here and that we will receive exemplary service. The perks of being famous, eh?
Nigeria’s highest-charting female musician might be wary of creating a scene, but it seems that fanfare can’t help but follow her around. The whole exchange makes me curious. Is it awkward? Cringe? Exciting? “It happens a lot,” Tems says, perusing the menu, “but I usually escape before anyone has a chance to say anything.”
In the space of eight years, Tems has metamorphosed from one-to-watch to global megastar. If her first EP, 2020’s For Broken Ears, served as a tight, banger-after-banger introduction to Tems’s infectious blend of R&B and Afrobeats, then her follow-up, 2024’s Born in the Wild, succeeded in cementing a fan base that included both seasoned Afrobeats listeners and suburban mothers listening to “Love Me JeJe” on the drive to work. There have been Grammys—two of them—performances at Wembley with Coldplay, a Glastonbury set, and blockbuster collaborations with everyone from Beyoncé to Drake to Justin Bieber—her feature on Dave’s “Raindance” earned her her first UK number one. In the midst of it all, the 31-year-old also became the first Nigerian artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with Future’s “Wait For U,” pushing her voice further mainstream. In 2025, she launched The Leading Vibe, a mentorship initiative supporting young African women in music; this summer, she will lead its inaugural edition outside of Africa, in London. Not bad for someone once known in school simply as “the annoying girl that just always sings.”
“She has this incredible way of being so fully herself,” says Jorja Smith of her friend, who she calls “Superstar Tems.” Next month, the pair will co-headline at London’s All Points East festival. “I’m completely in awe of her,” Smith says. “The confidence, the sexiness, the energy, the light… I loved her writing, her melodies, and the way she builds songs, from the first moment I heard her. I still can’t quite believe we’re doing All Points East together—it’s going to be such a special day.”
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