Grammy award winner, Temilade Openiyi, who is better known as Tems, has urged the world to look beyond stereotypes and explore the cultures of Africa, starting with Nigeria and Ghana.
In a conversation with Fashion Bomb Daily at the 2025 Met Gala in New York, Tems encouraged foreigners to visit Lagos and Ghana to form their understanding of what life in Africa truly feels like.
She shared that the beauty of Africa lies in the richness of its cultures and creativity.
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She said, “I always encouraged people to go to Lagos and Ghana for vacation. Just go and see for yourself before you make an opinion [about Africa]. See it for yourself and see how you feel.
“I think it [the beauty of Africa] is in the creativity, the daily efforts, the looks, the songs, the traditions, and the cultures.”
Tems also spoke about how diverse African music is, contrary to the global perception that it is just Afrobeats.
“We [Africans] can go further in every single aspect of sound. We are not just Afrobeats. There is Amapiano, Afrosoul, R&B, and Afro Jazz. There are so many genres in African music that people are not all the way tapped into yet,” the singer said.
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Temilade Openiyi, known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Wizkid’s 2020 single “Essence”, which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of the remix version with Justin Bieber.
