The character arc of Tems
Born 11 June 1995 in Lagos. Between then and now sit early years between Britain and Nigeria, a long stretch looking for a sound that felt like her own, a steady job left behind for music, a self-taught way with production, the breakout of Try Me, the worldwide reach of Essence, a writing credit on Rihanna's Lift Me Up, two Grammy Awards, and a debut album made entirely on her own terms. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Tems?
She taught herself, then taught the world her sound.
She was born in Lagos in 1995, spent part of her earliest years in Britain, and grew up mostly in Nigeria. She studied economics in Johannesburg and wrote songs in her spare time, but when she went home she could not find a producer whose beats sounded like the music in her head. So she made a decision that set the shape of everything after: she left a steady job in digital marketing, and rather than wait for the right sound she taught herself production from YouTube tutorials, one video at a time.
That choice is the spine of her arc. Producing her own music, she has said, made it more genuine and more true to her, and it gave her a voice no one else could hand her. Try Me broke through at home in 2019, and in 2020 her feature on Wizkid's Essence became a worldwide hit, the song that carried her name across the globe. Features with Drake followed, and in 2022 her feature on Future and Drake's Wait for U debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
The same year she co-wrote Lift Me Up for the film Wakanda Forever, sung by Rihanna, a song nominated for an Academy Award. She won a Grammy for Wait for U, then a second for Love Me JeJe, and in 2024 she released Born in the Wild, the fullest statement of the sound she had built alone. Her line is worth reading because the turn that carried all of it was not a lucky break but a decision to become her own producer, made before anyone was listening.
The moments
Tems's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in Lagos
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Born in Lagos, she spent part of her earliest years in Britain before growing up mostly in Nigeria.
The 2010s
Struggling to be heard
Setback, and it changed her direction. Back in Lagos she looked for producers and a sound that felt like her, and found neither for a long while.
Left her job for music
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She left a steady job in digital marketing to give music everything, with no safety net behind it.
Keep the job, or make music
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave and produce her own sound, taken, or keep the steady paycheck. She taught herself to produce, and by 2020 her voice on Essence had gone around the world.
Learned to make beats
Milestone. Unable to find a beat that felt like her, she taught herself production on YouTube and released the self-made Mr Rebel.
Try Me broke through
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Try Me broke through at home, the first of her songs to travel, self-written and self-produced.
The 2020s
Featured on Essence
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her feature on Wizkid's Essence became a worldwide hit and the song that carried her name across the globe.
Featured by Drake
Milestone. She featured on Fountains on Drake's Certified Lover Boy, carrying her sound onto one of the year's biggest albums.
Wait for U topped charts
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Her feature on Future and Drake's Wait for U debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Wrote Rihanna's Lift Me Up
Milestone, and it changed everything. She co-wrote Lift Me Up for the film Wakanda Forever, sung by Rihanna, and it was nominated for an Academy Award.
Won her first Grammy
Milestone, and it changed everything. She won the Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance for Wait for U, the first of her career.
Released Born in the Wild
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her debut album arrived after years of features, the fullest statement yet of the sound she had taught herself to make.
A second Grammy
Milestone. Love Me JeJe from the album won Best African Music Performance, her second Grammy.
Still making new music
Everyday. She kept releasing, among them the single What You Need, still building her own catalogue of songs.
The line reaches today still recording, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it set moving is already out in the world: a sound she taught herself to make, and every young musician who heard that you can learn to build your own.
In her words
Quotes by Tems
I wasn't hearing anything that was me in all those beats so I just decided to learn how to produce my music by myself.
Being a producer myself, it's more authentic now. The music became more genuine and more true to me and more distinctive.
When you struggle to find people that believe in you, you go extra hard.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is three decades in and still being drawn. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Tems, verified 16 September 2026.
- NPR, Tems remakes R&B in her image with Born in the Wild, June 2024.
- Billboard, Tems, R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month, 2020.
- The Line of Best Fit, Tems is on the rise, 2020.
- Billboard, Rihanna sends love to Tems for writing Lift Me Up, 2022.
- The Recording Academy, Grammy Awards records, 2023 and 2025.
- Tems, interview with The Line of Best Fit, 2020.
- Tems, Billboard, R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month, 2020.