She says she was particularly drawn to wearing a Vivienne Westwood design in light of the label’s namesake and founder’s recent death at 81. “There were other options but I just thought it was so special,” Tems says of the dress, which was completed two weeks before last night’s ceremony. “I really wanted to wear Vivienne.” According to Tems, the look neatly aligns with her penchant for duality. “I feel like I’m feminine. But I think everyone has some type of ratio of feminine and masculine energy,” she says. “Mine just switches out sometimes. Sometimes I’m more feminine, sometimes I’m more masculine. I like to express that in what I wear.”
Inside the star studded ceremony, Tems nabbed her first Grammy during the pre televised segment. A cherry on top meeting a personal idol. “I met Mary J. Blige,” Tems says, awe filling her voice. “I used to listen to her when I was 13 or 12 like… a lot.” She takes a moment to consider what her former self might think of the meaningful run in. “I come from Lagos and, at that time, there was no way I thought I would ever meet her. That was very cool.” Tems is fast becoming a continent spanning star in her own right. She is from the lush cultural capital of Lagos, Nigeria, which has become an incubator of exciting, fresh sounding afrobeats stars like Wizkid and Davido. In 2020, from Lagos, she released her debut EP For Broken Ears which spawned the hit single “Free Mind.” Three years later, Tems has a serious chance of nabbing the Academy Award for “Best Original Song” as a songwriter on Rihanna’s Black Panther Wakanda Forever anthem “Lift Me Up.”
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