Nigerian star Tems has won her first Grammy Award—and it’s only up from here for her.
Tems during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, the Nigerian singer, whose full name is Temilade Openiyi, earned her first Grammy for her contribution to Future‘s ‘Wait For U,’ which also features Drake.
She won in the category of Best Melodic Rap Performance over artists like Latto (“Big Energy (Live)”, Jack Harlow (“First Class”), Kendrick Lamar (“Die Hard”), and DJ Khaled (“Beautiful”). With this win, the 27-year-old fan-favorite just made history as the first female Nigerian artist to win a Grammy.
Tems, who has made a big debut with her music over the past few years is also up for Album of the Year for her contribution to Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Earlier this year, the “Higher” Singer scored an Oscar nomination at the 2023 Oscars for co-writing “Lift Me Up’, one of the songs on ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Wait For U” sampled Tems’ song “Higher,” which was a record off of her 2020 debut album For Broken Ears. “Wait For U'” was released on May 3, 2022, and was released as the second single from Future’s ninth studio album, I Never Liked You.
Shortly after the record was released, Future took to social media to praise Tems’ vocal ability. The rest of 2022 would involve Tems getting praise and international recognition for her artistry, and a fleet of projects, including notable collaborations with mega stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna.
Ever since news of the Tems’ win broke, several fans took to social media to excitedly congratulate the Lagos-born mega star.