Tems and Family Open Up About Bitter Struggles While Growing Up

Nigerian singer Tems is right now one of the biggest musical acts not just out of Nigeria but out of Africa. Her hit songs including Try Me and the worldwide smash Essence have dominated many charts and catapulted Tems to international success. One of the most characteristic things about Tems so far has been her mystique. So much has been said and written about her but she so rarely gives interviews or talks too much about herself. Because of that, a lot of misconceptions about her have also been born.

In a bid to connect more with her fans and share more about herself, Tems started a radio show called Leading Vibe Radio on Apple Music and on the first episode of the show, Tems along with her brother and manager sat down to talk about a couple of things including bitter struggles like Tems' confidence and humble beginnings. Here is everything Tems said about both issues on the radio show.

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Speaking on Leading Vibe Radio, here is what Tems said in response to the following questions:

Would you call yourself confident and have you always been confident?

Tems: I would call myself confident. I think when you have a certain level of awareness, you cannot not be. It’s like the lion realizes it’s a lion then what is the reason for it to act like a rat? That’s not even an option. The more you realize who you are, the more confident you are because you know what’s important. Nothing else matters. I haven't always been confident. I think as children, we are all confident. I think we’re born into this world full of new adventures, and we just go into them, and do things. I think, along the way, life happens. There was a time I had no self-worth or value. I genuinely believed I was meant to be the mat that people stepped on.

What made you feel this way?

Tems: Just people. I just had people around telling me I was not anything. When someone tells you long enough and they treat you that way. I was isolated. When I was in school I couldn’t eat in public. I wasn't someone that people liked. And I was like if my presence is bothering people, I’m just going to move away. I’m just going to do my thing and find what I like. Then I'll find one person and me and them would be friends.

So you were razz?

Tems: Oh I was less than razz.

There's this misconception that you grew up rich. A lot of people think you guys had a very rich background.

Tems: I am just sending big love to my mum because of who she is. She stopped at nothing. We couldn't afford to go to the school we went to because the school we went to was a rich kid's school. Everybody in that school knew we weren't rich. My mum was the doctor of the school clinic. My mum got a job at my school. It wasn't roses. But we were around people that could speak English. We thank God that we don’t look like what we went through.

We thank God we don't look like what we went through indeed. Now Tems is confident and she's one of the biggest stars in the world after everybody tried to tear her down. What an inspirational story.

Let me know what you think about what Tems said by leaving a comment on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post. I'm very curious to see what you think.

That's All.

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