Popular Nigerian singer ‘Tems’ has won the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance. This is her second time winning the Grammy and is the only African to winner at the 2025 Grammys.
Tems defeated Yemi Alade, Burna Boy and Wizkid and took home the award for her hit single ‘Love Me Jeje’. She expressed emotionally while accepting the trophy on Sunday evening that her heart was beating so fast.
This is the second year, since the category was introduced. It was a wide move that was welcomed as a recognition of the impact of African artists on the global music scene.
Well nothing comes easy, some controversy also popped up as the rumours circled that this year US R&B star Chris Brown was also one of the nominees for his song ‘Sensational’ that incorporated Afrobeats elements and featured guest vocals from Nigerian artists such as Davido and Lojay.
Tems reached amazed at the stage after her name was announced at the Grammy Award Ceremony, held in Los Angeles. She began her speech by joking, “I do work out but it’s not showing up right now,” as she patted her heart to the amusement of the audience.
Afro-Artist aged 29 extended gratitude to her mother and said, “Wow, dear God thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing this team and tomorrow is my mum’s birthday and this is her first Grammys.”
“I just want to thank you mum because she has done a lot for me and my brother,” Tems gestured towards her.
Hit track, ‘Love Me Jeje’ by Tems, samples a line from Seyi Sodimu’s 1997 Nigerian Classic of the same name that has racked up 125 million listens on Spotify and 21 million views on YouTube.
Adding up her Sunday win, tems has become the first Nigerian to have two Grammys to her name after conquering the Best Melodic Rap Performance in 2023 for featuring on Future’s hit ‘Wait For U’.
President of Nigeria – Tinubu Bola Ahmed congratulated the singer and commended her for bringing ‘pride’ to the country on the global stage for the second time.
Besides, Best African Music Performance category, Tems was also nominated for – Best Global Music Album for ‘Born in the Wild’ and Best R&B Song for ‘Burning’. In her career so far, the artist has received eight nominations.
Tems got famous with her self-produced debut single ‘Mr Rebel’ in 2018. She further grabbed attention of all in 2019 with ‘Try Me’. Her international profile was boosted after getting featured n Wizkid’s song ‘Essence’ that earned her several award nominations, along one with Grammy. She received several accolades throughout her career involving NAACP Image Awards, a Soul Train Music Award and BET Awards.