Tems Is Taking Over The World

Nigerian musical legend in the making Tems is one hell of a force. The singer has had a fleet of accomplishments in recent months, showing off her star power and the waves her music has made on global music charts. On Sunday, Tems became the first female Nigerian artist to accept the Best International Act award at this year’s BET award ceremony — also collecting the Best Collaboration award on the behalf of colleague Wizkid on their “Essence” remix featuring Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.

The celebration of Black excellence including African talent is one more reminder of the importance of community and inclusion, as the award show party went on through the evening. And Tems’ presence on the American stage spoke volumes to her hoard of fans across the continent and diaspora. The singer made sure to share a few words of wisdom with said fans, urging women and girls to stay the course, reminding them that their hard work will eventually pay off.

It’s The Essence of a Dope Collab For Us! Congrats to WizKid, Tems & Justin Bieber | BET Awards ’22

And the singer knows what she is talking about. Tems first hit the music scene in 2015, quitting her job in 2018 to take on music full time. The brave step into her future clearly paid off, as the singer has celebrated being the first Nigerian artist to ever debut at Number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list, and a Grammy Award nomination — all in one year.

Also, there to wave the Nigerian flag was singer Fireboy DML. As the first African artist to perform an Afrobeats set on the BET stage, the singer lit the stage up with smash hit ‘Peru’.

Check out Fireboy DML’s BET Award performance here.