Why I Never Want to Make a Song Like Try Me Again - Tems

In 2019, an up and coming musician by the name of Tems put out a song called Try Me into the universe. By the next year, the song was the major talk of the town, had topped so many music charts, had garnered millions of views and streams, and was unarguably one of the biggest songs of the year.

Try Me literally changed artiste Tems' life. It was her first major hit and the song that served as the launchpad to an impressive and successful EP, and an earth shattering collaboration with one of Nigeria's biggest acts, Wizkid.

One would assume that because of the success of that song, Try Me, Tems would be eager to replicate that music or make a song in the same vein or commercial gain. However, in an interview with Pan African Music, Tems opened up about why she thinks she'll never be able to make a song like Try Me again. Here's what she said.

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During her interview with Pan African Music, Tems was asked:

“Try Me” is a powerful, possessive, personal song. Did some personal event trigger the birth of that song?

To which she responded:

Yes, all my songs are personal and I literally sing them from my spirit. The state of mind I was at when I made “Try Me” was very deep, I can’t explain. I had gone through a lot and felt people just like to kick you when you’re down and I was done with that. Honestly, you have to be going through a lot for you to make a song like “Try Me”. It’s not a song you just make being happy or normal else someone would’ve made a “Try Me” before me, if it was such an easy song to make. That state of mind is some place I don’t know if I can ever go to again because I’m not angry or suffering anymore. I know it’s a great and empowering song but I don’t want to go back there. My next songs will be different because I’m in a different place.

Keeping in mind the kind of pressure that a song of that magnitude could have put on Tems, the interviewer asked her:

How did you manage the pressure to maintain Try Me’s momentum with subsequent releases?

To which Tems responded:

People feel pressure for you, that’s what this whole thing is. They’re looking for something to entertain themselves with, so you can’t allow that pressure to come in. I don’t entertain them because it’s not my business, it cannot come into my house. It’s almost like there’s a war happening outside my house but inside my house, I’m at peace, in my space, chilling. I think people want artists to feel pressure. First of all, I’m an artist, I make art, there should be no pressure in making art as it’s a form of expression and music is what I use to express myself.

While Try Me is such a good and powerful song, I'm very excited to see the new stuff Tems has been working on now that she's no longer in that angry headspace she says she was during the creation of it. I'm such a fan of her work and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

That's All.

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