Nobody can understand the food,” the Nigerian songbird Tems tells me, beaming. “Plantain and eggs, this bean stew called ewa riro, and this really soft, dense bread called agege. It’s to die for!” As one of the most streamed African female artists in the world, and one of the leaders of a new wave of African pop that has swept the globe, Tems no longer gets to spend much time eating her favorite dishes in her hometown of Lagos. “Home is where the heart is, and my heart is within me,” she replies coolly when I ask if life on the road is difficult. “I am home now—wherever I am is home.”
At the time of our Zoom call, Tems is in Los Angeles, preparing for her upcoming Coachella performance. The week after we speak, it makes numerous headlines. With voluminous, billowing hair and a formfitting black sequined gown, Tems channeled both Diana Ross and Cher during her show at the festival’s Mojave Tent. When it came time to sing her breakout hit, “Essence,” she delivered not one but two surprises: Her first collaborator, Wizkid, appeared onstage, followed minutes later by the lately rarely seen Justin Bieber, who was featured on the track’s remix. The crowd erupted when Bieber serenaded his verse to Tems, as she danced in the brightly colored fog with an amused and satisfied smile before singing back to him her unforgettable lyric: “You don’t need no other body.”
Click here to read the full feature for W’s Pop Issue.
