African artists are having a moment on the global stage.
And Tems? Baby… she is undeniably leading that charge. The British-Nigerian artist has spent the last few years racking up (and I truly mean racking up) several career-defining achievements, and it’s crazy to think she’s really just getting start. That includes two Grammy wins, over 1 billion streams worldwide, and she made history as the first African woman to land five Billboard Hot 100 hits. Her blend of R&B, soul, and Afrobeats has captured audiences across continents, and her 2024 world tour only cemented her status as one of the most compelling voices in music today.
But for Tems, all of that success comes with a responsibility. “I’m feeling really good actually. I’m in a good space, and I’m really blessed to get to the end of the year,” she tells me on a Zoom call from London. “It’s been a crazy year. I’m really grateful for all that has happened this year.” When I ask her to pinpoint a highlight, she struggles (which is just a sign of how blessed she truly is). “Honestly, it’s just so much to count, which is such a blessing. I can’t pick one.”
What’s remarkable is that even with everything she’s accomplished, Tems isn’t focused on her own legacy. She’s focused on making sure the women coming behind her don’t have to fight the same battles she did. She’s more focused on what comes next, and specifically, on who comes next.
That mindset extends to everything she touches, including her new role as Hennessy’s Global Brand Ambassador for the brand’s 2025 “Made for More” campaign. The campaign spotlights African creativity through a series of films featuring Tems alongside fellow artists INNOSS’B, Kabza De Small, and Maglera Doe Boy.
When asked how partnerships like this shift representation for African artists globally, she says: “I think with campaigns like this, especially this particular one, which wasn’t just music, it was this chess master, the producers, the DJs. I think it just shows a lot of unity and I think that unity is very strong. It projects the unity and the cohesion that African people from many different countries can come together and collaborate on something.”
That emphasis on unity and collaboration threads through everything Tems touches, particularly her Leading Vibe Initiative, which she launched this summer to support young women in music across Africa. Since its debut, the initiative has been quietly but determinedly building physical bases in Lagos and Kenya, creating tangible spaces where female artists, producers, and engineers can access resources that Tems herself had to fight to find.
“We’re setting up the space that is going to be the base for all the women, all the female artists, the producers, the engineers,” she shares. “Everyone that we work with will come and be able to record, get advice, get a team, anything that really they need.”
The initiative is deeply personal. Tems speaks candidly about navigating the industry as a young woman, and the gaps that nearly derailed her before she’d even begun. While she counts herself fortunate to have met her managers early (they were friends first), she remembers the isolation of trying to figure things out alone in an industry where women rarely occupied positions of power.
“One thing that I noticed is that there were hardly any female people in positions of power. And it was really hard to be taken seriously by label heads, people that I thought could help or tell me what to do,” she recalls. “Like every industry the music industry is ruthless. You can’t be weak. You can’t be looking like you need help. But also, as a female artist it was, it’s really easy to be exploited, especially because people bank on your ignorance or your lack of knowledge.”
It’s that exploitation, and the way the industry preys on what young artists don’t know, that is driveing her mission now. She mentions conversations with established artists who’ve confided they wish they’d known certain realities earlier, before they were too deep to turn back. “A lot of people, especially a lot of artists that I know have told me they wish they knew some of the things that they eventually found out they might have made different choices,” Tems says. “I need people to know what it is so that there isn’t any kind of surprise, no one can exploit you in any kind of way, because you know exactly what’s going on.”
By 2026, Leading Vibe will shift from foundation-building to active career support, offering everything from distribution and financial backing to legal guidance and structural advice. She’s already championing artists behind the scenes—producer Sarz from Nigeria, whom she calls “one of the most talented people that I’ve met ever,” and Maya Amolo from Kenya, along with Lodù, a Nigerian jazz artist who sings in Yoruba, Tems’ native language.
Looking back at her earliest work, she’s candid about the rough edges. She produced much of it herself out of necessity, not having access to established producers. “I was like, ‘Well, since no one’s going to help me out, I would rather it be not great, but still me,'” she says. But the growth since then has been undeniable in more ways than one, including production sophistication, vocal refinement, and especially in her stage presence. “I’m so much more refined as a singer than I used to be. Especially due to the fact that I was just, I had no experience with stage and experience with a lot of things. Music was just an outlet for me.”
As for dream collaborations? She’s already worked with many of the artists on her wish list, but three names still make her (and us) light up just at the thought of it: Rihanna (“if she ever decides to get out of retirement”), Kendrick Lamar, and her ultimate dream, Sade. “That’s my biggest dream,” she says.
When I ask about her holiday plans, Tems doesn’t hesitate to make me jealous (particularly because it involves Detty December). “I’m definitely going to Lagos, for sure,” she says. She goes home most Decembers, drawn back by family and what she insists is some of the best food in the world. “I’m not even trying to be biased, but I really believe so.” And if you catch her on a cold night before then? She might be curled up with a Hot Toddy made with Hennessy X.O, fresh mint leaves, honey, and orange slices, though she’s clear it’s not a pre-show drink. That’s reserved for cozy evenings with smooth jazz and candlelight.
The legacy question brings us back to where we started. “I want it to be obvious that there was a door that was opened,” she says. “More than myself, I think I want to really build a community that people can grow into, or can grow from, and have the support that they need to get them to wherever they are. I want to be a queen maker.”
It’s a fitting vision for an artist who’s spent her career refusing to walk through doors alone. Tems isn’t just Made for More (get it?) she’s making sure the women coming behind her are, too.