There is so much excitement in the air because lovers of good music will not only be experiencing their beloved superstar on stage, they will also witness the release of one of her hits. So, the concert scheduled for Lagos promises to be a reconnect between appreciative fans and their idol. It will be a celebration of Tems’ debut EP, For Broken Ears. The concert is a collaboration between Spotify and Tems. According to Spotify, the anniversary concert is a “one-of-one concert experience for Spotify premium fans”. The music streaming service behemoth messaged an ultra-targeted handful of ‘Tems’ Spotify audience members in mid-September, directly on Spotify, and offered a few the opportunity to secure a spot in the Concert, which was scheduled for September 25th at Livespot, Lagos.
This is special in many ways. To start with, in an industry where our stars barely perform at home after going global, it’s refreshing to see that Tems and Spotify are putting Nigerians who supported her first. Many industry stakeholders, like Joey Akan, have previously called out the “neglect in the Nigerian live department” as a result of artists and promoters being unable to reach a compromise on the most reasonable booking fee for our global star. This concert is a push in the right direction for the Nigerian live entertainment industry.
It’s no coincidence that the concert date is the same as the release date of her debut EP, For Broken Ears. In her come-up story, For Broken Ears is the most important project she’s dropped. The EP received an RIAA Gold Certification in the United States in May 2024 after surpassing 500,000 equivalent sales units. Beyond sales, a track off her debut EP was sampled by two of the United States biggest superstars, Drake and Future, on their Grammy Award-winning hit, Wait For U. The song also won the Favourite Hip-Hop Song at the 50th American Music Awards. Tems became the first African female artist to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
For Broken Ears solidified her place as a global star and made it possible for her to sell out premium venues like The Wiltern and Radio City Music Hall, among others. This project expanded her reach beyond the shores of Lagos Island. She has evolved beyond just a Nigerian icon; she is a global superstar.
Watching Tems rise from an underground RnB artist who had a cult fanbase in Nigeria to a co-headliner at the FIFA Club World Cup Final Halftime Show is nothing short of amazing. In retrospect, it’s easy to say she was born for this, though some die-hard Tems fans a few years ago assumed that her path wasn’t so clear. Was she going to become the next Asa, another underrated alte artist, or the next Sade Adu? What is certain is that, notwithstanding her trajectory, it was quite certain that Temilade Openiyi was destined for greatness.
Words cannot describe the power of Tems’s brand, but it would not be an overstatement to say that Tems is a star’s star. Now, it is crystal clear that the Lagos-born Superstar is on her way to becoming the Sade Adu of our generation—maybe even more.
So much has transpired since she released her self-produced debut single, “Mr Rebel,” in 2018. Her inclusion on Wizkid’s global anthem “Essence” brought her unprecedented mainstream visibility in the United States, unlocking massive collaborations with Beyoncé, Drake, Future, Justin Bieber, J. Cole, and Rihanna. Today, as a multi-Grammy winner and the first homegrown female Nigerian artist to achieve that distinction, she walks in the iconic footsteps of legends like Sade Adu.
Tems went on to bag two Grammys in 2023 and 2025, making her the first homegrown female Nigerian artist to attain this feat, although she’s not the first female artist of Nigerian descent to do so. The London-based star, Sade Adu won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1986.
The ‘Me and U’ singer cosigned this event on her Twitter page by tweeting the concert flyer and tagging SpotifyAfrica.
This is not her first rodeo. From the onset, Tems has been one of Nigeria’s best vocalists. Her ability to pull listeners in and drive them to tears has been central to her branding. The one-of-one Spotify Experience concert is her opportunity to reintroduce her Nigerian audience to her ever-evolving sonic universe. Judging from her notable performances at the BET Awards, the Grammys, the Global Citizen Festival, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and the Tiny Desk Concert, Tems can do no wrong on stage.
Tems’ stage persona is a beauty to behold. She captures the true essence of RnB with her hypnotic voice. At every show, she reminds her audience why they chose her in the first place. She’s authentic but interesting. And to top it all, she’s unapologetically Nigerian.
