MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Nigerian singer Tems has emerged as a global star. You might know her through her collaborations with Beyonce, Drake and Rihanna. Today, she releases her debut album, "Born In The Wild." And she told NPR Music reporter Sidney Madden her music career began with an agonizing decision.
SIDNEY MADDEN, BYLINE: Tems makes a great case for quitting.
TEMS: I took a leap. Like, I jumped off the cliff.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ESSENCE")
TEMS: (Singing) I feel it coming. Time is of the essence. I tried to teach you.
MADDEN: Before the Nigerian-born singer-songwriter was one of the most distinctive voices in R&B, just the idea of a life in music felt worlds beyond her reach. Back in 2018, Tems was working a job in marketing that she knew was a dead end. She felt a calling to do something else.
TEMS: I didn't know whether I would get wings. I didn't know whether anybody would pick me up. I just jumped.
MADDEN: Her boss at the time was less than supportive.
TEMS: She was like, if you're not careful, I'll fire you. And I was like, actually, this is the best time to say that I want to quit. And I was just like, I'm going to sing. She was livid. Like, sing? Huh? And then I just, like, started crying. I was like, I just have to because this is what I've been called to do, and I just have to do it. It's now or never.
MADDEN: But even through the tears, Tems knew she made the right decision.
TEMS: I left the room shaking, but I felt relieved. Like, OK, now I'm starting my real life.
MADDEN: That meant starting over from scratch, though, because at the time of her resignation, Tems hadn't even made her first song yet. She just knew what she wanted to make.
TEMS: I think music is meant to make you feel something.
MADDEN: The sound of West Africa is ruled by the dance-driven Afrobeat scene. What Tems was aiming for was slow-burning alternative soul. She grew up on Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, R&B divas with soaring vocals who create huge heart-stopping moments.
TEMS: A lot of music now is for utility. It doesn't necessarily make you feel something, but I want to feel it in my chest. Like, I want to feel sad. I want to feel happy. I want to feel motivated.
MADDEN: In Lagos, finding a producer who could match that feeling without pushing her into the Afrobeats lane was hard. So Tems spent hours on YouTube learning how to produce and engineer music herself.
TEMS: Every time I stay in tune myself, it just always goes right. It's just always pure.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRY ME")
TEMS: (Singing) So why you wanna try me? Yeah, try me. You're out to destroy me, destroy me. You're trying to challenge me, challenge me. You're trying to distract me, distract me.
MADDEN: This purity of feeling in her songwriting, matched with the richness of her vocals, became her signature, one that the entire world heard in 2020. Her chorus on "Essence," a song by fellow Nigerian star Wizkid, made the track an undeniable hit.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ESSENCE")
TEMS: (Singing) You don't need no other body. You don't need no other body. Only you fi hold my body.
MADDEN: Since then, Tems has earned Grammy and Oscar nominations and has become a leader for women in the African music space. And now, all those years after shaking in her boss's office, Tems' bet on herself is paying off in full with her full-length debut album, "Born In The Wild."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BORN IN THE WILD")
TEMS: (Singing) It's all over the news, all over the news, I noticed. Under the sun, struggling to find my focus. When I was young, young and dumb, my mind was always running away.
MADDEN: What does it mean to be born in the wild?
TEMS: It means to be fighting for survival. It means to learn how to have soft skin and to be comfortable in uncertainty.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BORN IN THE WILD")
TEMS: (Singing) Born in the wild. Born in the wild. Born in the wild. Born in the wild.
MADDEN: Just like the early tracks that got her noticed, Tems wrote, produced and engineered most of this debut herself.
TEMS: I tried to get writers for this album. I really tried. I worked with, like, maybe four writers, and I just ended up not using the stuff that they did 'cause I know myself so well. It feels weird for me to sing another person's lyrics that I don't relate to.
MADDEN: "Born In The Wild" shows off that personal growth. Tems flirts with Afropop on "Love Me JeJe."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE ME JEJE")
TEMS: (Singing) Day and night, it's unconditional. Got me living softly. Yeah, yeah. Love me jeje. Love me tender. You know your love turn me up like NEPA. Anything you want, and I'ma do whatever.
MADDEN: On "Unfortunate," she sends off a lover who's shown her too many red flags and does it so sweetly, she reframes the breakup almost as a positive.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UNFORTUNATE")
TEMS: (Singing) Anything you wanna say might as well be thrown away. Guess it's time to make your way, way.
And it's not even like I'm judging you because I'm not perfect, but it's great that you showed me that you are this person so I can give you space. You need to grow. You need to get that growth going.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UNFORTUNATE")
TEMS: (Singing) And maybe it's fortunate you're unfortunate. Yeah, maybe it's fortunate you're unfortunate.
MADDEN: And she sends a love letter to her younger self on the poignant "Hold On."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLD ON")
TEMS: (Singing) This is for the girl in thе dark. This is for the one trying to make it right. This is for the onе waiting for the sunrise. This is for the one with a voice inside.
Things were always going wrong in my life from moment I was born. You know, I was actually born in candlelight. Like, there was no electricity when my mom gave birth to me. It was night in my life for so long that, like, I just thought it was never coming. And then my life did a 360 from that leap I took from that one decision to quit my job. I think if anyone feels like how I felt at the time, I think, yeah, hold on.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLD ON")
TEMS: (Singing) Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
MADDEN: After years of holding on herself, Tems has finally found those wings she didn't know she had.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREE FALL")
TEMS: (Singing) Hopeless in the moment. I free fall straight into you.
MADDEN: Sidney Madden, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREE FALL")
TEMS: (Singing) I don't know if I can fight what you do in my mind. More and more, I collide with you.
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