Nigerian singer and songwriter Tems has revealed the challenges she faced as a young artist navigating the music industry, sharing how unwanted attention affected her confidence and her approach to her craft.
In an interview, Tems explained that early in her career, she often went to recording studios alone, determined to focus on learning and producing music without interference.
“I used to not always like my body, crazy as it seems, but I just didn’t understand a lot of things,” she said.
“I was going to a lot of studios alone, meeting people I have never met, people we don’t know each other.
I’ll message people and tell them I’ve been working on this, I want to share this because I know I have something. I wanted to learn how to produce because of my objectives, which is I just want to make music.
I don’t really care about politics or anything here, I just want to learn.”Protecting her focus
Tems said her strategy involved dressing in baggy clothes and adopting an “alpha mood” to avoid unwanted advances while ensuring her professionalism was clear.
“If me being attractive is disturbing you and stopping me from achieving my goal, I’m going to help you.
So when I go to the studio, I wear baggy clothes and I’m in my alpha mood because I want you to not be seduced by me… but most of the time it works because they can tell she’s just here to work and we work.”
The singer added that her approach allowed her to focus on music that was unconventional in Nigeria, paving the way for her unique sound.
“It’s unheard of to do this type of music as a Nigerian in Nigeria,” she said.
