Nigerian singer Tems corrects Ebro Darden on her exact music style during a recent interview
Nigerian singer Tems officially rejected the Afrobeats tag during an interview with Ebro Darden. She clarified that her music is actually an alternative blend of soul and R&B. The artist blamed regional bias for the widespread misunderstanding in the global music industry.
The ongoing debate over African music types has gained another powerful voice. Nigerian music star Tems has openly rejected the common tag placed on her art.
Fans have heavily discussed how Western media treats African artists. Tems addressed this exact issue to clear the air. She spoke directly with veteran media personality Ebro Darden.
Ebro Sparks the Genre Debate
The star shared her thoughts on the industry. The veteran radio host brought up a major discussion happening across West Africa.
”You know, it’s a conversation in, uh, Nigeria and West Africa about the term Afrobeats. And I’ve heard people refer to you as an Afrobeats artist, and I’m always like, ah, I don’t know if she would term herself that way. How do you describe your music?” Ebro asked.
”My music is alternative. Alté, as they would say. It’s alté, but yeah, in, in the world scope, in an objective view, it’s alternative Afro, soul, R&B.” Tems answered.
”Got it.” Ebro replied. He understood her point.
The singer noted that she never focused on genres early in her career. This pure creative freedom makes the current rigid tags feel very strange. She explained her original process clearly to the host.
”It’s like a mesh of different genres. I didn’t know about genres, I was just making music, so that’s why this is a bit weird.” She revealed.
The Generalisation of African Sound
The conversation quickly shifted to a broader industry problem. Tems pointed out a common flaw in how global platforms group foreign music.
”Um, but I noticed that any music that comes out of Nigeria, people just put it under Afrobeats because it’s Nigeria, it’s Africa. So now the new name for African music seems to be Afrobeats. And I’m not… I don’t know that that’s right, because it’s like there’s so many genres.” Tems stated.
She firmly believes that industry players lack the basic knowledge to sort artists properly. This ignorance forces countless diverse sounds into one single box.
”But also, I think they just don’t really know what to classify people…” The star added. She expressed her frustration.
”But how come it just can’t be R&B, or hip hop, or…” Ebro questioned.
Chart Placements and Future Changes
Tems then exposed the real source of her ongoing music confusion. She actively submits her own tracks differently during the official release process.
”Um, when I release my music, I put R&B on, under the genre. So it’s really the blogs and the whoever that, that says Afrobeats, you know, the charts, but I, yeah, it’s just something that’s going on right now.” She clarified.
”It’s gonna shake out over time. It’s, it’s, it’s…” The host suggested.
Tems agreed that audiences will eventually learn to tell the difference. She remains firm that her own sonic identity stands far apart from Afrobeats. The artist fully trusts her true fans to hear the clear distinction.
”Yeah, I think it’s gonna, people would start noticing, okay, this is actually not Afrobeats, this is, this is something else, or this is R&B or, you know, but I, I don’t know, I, I can’t control it.” The singer noted. She accepted her lack of control.
”I just want it ’cause it comes up a lot and sometimes people say it…” Ebro admitted.
”Yeah. I’m personally not… that’s not the type of music I make.” Tems declared.
”Right.” Ebro said. He agreed with her firm stance.
”It’s, it’s, I mean you can hear it. It doesn’t sound like Afrobeats.” She continued.
”Do you care how people label your music, or no?” He finally asked. He wanted to know her true feelings.
”Um…” Tems concluded. The interview snippet ended there.
