How illness, surgery delayed my debut album – Tems

Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has revealed how a “serious illness” (she declined to specify) forced her to delay the release of her debut album.

Tems, who hit the global reckoning in 2020 after appearing on Wizkid’s summer hit ‘Essence,’ disclosed in a recent interview with the New York Times that her debut album was scheduled for release in 2021 but got postponed due to an illness that forced her into surgery and six months of recovery.

The Oscar-nominated diva explained that she released her sophomore extended play, ‘If Orange Was a Place’ instead.

Fighting her way back to health partly inspired her new music, which she said was about embracing life as a warrior.

“Being a warrior is about not giving up,” she said. “Even if they cut your leg, you walk on your knees, you fight on your knees using what you have – and that’s good enough.”

Tems’ much-anticipated and long-awaited debut album, ‘Born In The Wild’ will arrive June 7.

She is also kicking off her first headline world tour in June.