Tems
Temilade Openiyi, born in Lagos in 1995, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer who rose out of the city's alté scene, writing and producing her own early records around a smoky, low-register voice and unhurried, atmospheric arrangements. She broke through internationally as the featured voice on Wizkid's 2020 single 'Essence,' then built a catalog spanning the EP 'For Broken Ears' (2020), the single 'Free Mind,' and her debut album 'Born in the Wild' (2024). Her music folds R&B, soul, and Afrobeats into a spare, spiritual mode that helped widen the global lane for Nigerian singers working outside pop's brighter registers.
Tems has named Lauryn Hill among the R&B and hip-hop artists she absorbed as a teenager, singling out 'I Gotta Find Peace of Mind' as a formative inspiration she has described as 'very, very spiritual.' It surfaces in Tems' habit of treating a song as a site of spiritual reckoning — soul-searching lyrics delivered with an unpolished, testifying grain rather than gloss.
listen forPlay Hill's 'I Gotta Find Peace of Mind' and wait for the point where the hushed, acoustic confession opens into a testifying, gospel-sized release; then throw on Tems' 'Free Mind' and hear the same arc — a weary, low-slung vow that keeps its composure while reaching for something unburdened and spiritual.
Tems has specifically named Frank Ocean's 'Swim Good' among the songs that shaped her as a teenager. It shows up in her taste for atmospheric, genre-loose alt-R&B — moody, spacious productions and introspective, story-driven writing that prizes feeling over an obvious hook.
listen forOn Ocean's 'Swim Good,' sit with the cinematic melancholy — the drifting, unresolved chords and a narrator turning heartbreak into a slow-motion drive; then play Tems' 'Damages,' and hear the same downcast, atmospheric R&B, a heavy-hearted vocal moving through a spare, reverb-soaked arrangement that leaves room for the ache.
Aaliyah is listed among the R&B artists Tems has cited from her teenage listening, and her cool, understated approach echoes in how Tems sings. Rather than belting, Tems favors unhurried phrasing and stacks breathy, close-miked vocal layers over sparse, rhythm-forward production.
listen forOn Aaliyah's 'Are You That Somebody?', notice the restraint — the way she rides a stop-start, minimalist beat with soft, conversational cool instead of force; then cue Tems' 'Crazy Tings,' where she floats a similarly laid-back, breathy melody over a spare Afro-R&B groove, letting space and understatement carry the hook.