The BET awards are dedicated to black excellence and we are glad to see that African artists are being uplifted there as well.
‘Try Me’ singer, Tems, won her first international award as ‘International Act’ at the recently concluded BET Awards 2022.
All her previous awards have been for the song ‘Essence’ on which she featured by Wizkid. This one however, is all hers and all based all on her own efforts.
Tems has been taking the world by storm. Her voice is truly exceptional and huge artists have been lining up to have her on their songs and with good reason. Aside from having a song with Wizkid she also features on Khalid and Disclosure’s ‘Know Your Worth’. She is also on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy Album on the song ‘Fountains’ and had her song ‘Higher’ sampled on Future’s new album on the hit song ‘Wait for U’. Both the artists compared Tems’ voice to that of an angel.
Anyone who has listened to her music will have to agree. Her last EP ‘If Orange Was a Place’ only had five songs but is a beautiful listen. You may recognize the songs ‘Crazy Tings’ from this project and ‘Found’ featuring RnB legend, Brent Faiyaz. Like all her other projects, this one shows her vocal prowess and consists of beautiful melodies from track one to five. Before that, was her debut album, For Broken Ears which bore hits like ‘Ice T’, ‘Free Mind’ and ‘Damages’. It’s safe to say Tems has been working hard, releasing quality records and is starting to reap the fruits of her efforts.
She is UK based but grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. Her humility is seen in her acceptance speech for the BET awards as she took that opportunity to empower girls everywhere. She said “This is my first award show that I’m winning something.” She took the opportunity to speak to young women saying “Where I’m from things like this don’t happen – this is a dream”. She dedicated the award to young artists everywhere telling them to take her victory as a sign “I dare you to get up from your seat and go for your dreams and fight for yourselves. You are meant to be here too.” It was beautiful to watch and she looked stunning as she received the award as well.
The 27-year-old artist has made major strides in her career over the last few years and has gained millions of fans all over the world. One thing is for sure, we are rooting for her. Her hard work is evident from the output she produces and Tems is bringing Africa to the world one note at a time.
We’re certain that this award is going to be the first of many for her and we cannot wait to see what else Tems has in store for us.
