By Chinazam Ikechi-Uko.
2024 has been a defining year for the 29-year-old singer Tems. She dropped her debut album, Born In The Wild, accompanied by a world tour. Her Coachella set reintroduced the world to Tems, one who was not shy and unenergetic. While it has been a great year for Tems the musician, Tems the fashion icon has a few achievements too.
W magazine, The Cut, and Evening Standard; in eight months, Tems has scored a few high fashion features and her latest addition is Essence as she covers its August/September issue.
For Essence, Tems can be seen playing with never-before hairstyles including spotting a pink wig. Essence highlights her nationality as Tems wore Tolu Coker’s AW24, a collection titled Broken English.
“So I do a lot of experimentation now, but it has nothing to do with the outside world.” Tems on her style. “I feel like with me travelling, meeting different people, exploring and being exposed to new cultures, and just seeing new fashion ideas, I find myself more interested in trying new things.”
She explores topics such as societal expectations of a successful African. “I have to think about why I’m doing this and who I’m doing this for. Otherwise, once you give in to considering what people think about you, and what you should be doing to be seen a certain way, then you kind of enter this race. You enter this unsustainable way of living. And it is fine for some people. You’re not meant to be liked by everybody. So that’s why you have to really think about what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for, and why—because people who are for you are going to love you regardless, just by you being who you are. You’re not going to have to try to be anything. You’re just going to receive love. Because you were living your life before all these people came along.”
I’m just a girl is her catchphrase of the year “I don’t know what it is that people expect of me. And if I start thinking about that, I don’t know who will give me the answer. Maybe one person in Chicago says, “This is what I personally expect of you.” But somebody in Nigeria says, “Well, this is what I personally expect of you.” And somebody else in Japan is saying, “Tems, this is what I expect you should be doing.” So whose expectation are we talking about? Are we talking about the city of Lagos, and its expectations? Are we talking about the South African fans? Are we talking about the fans in New York? There are so many people in the world, and they all have expectations. I don’t actually know what those expectations are, and I don’t try to know. I am only a girl. I’m just a girl.”