Most people keep their 29th birthday celebrations lowkey. Drinks, dinner, something tame, knowing the real debauchery will come the following year. Not Tems. The Nigerian Afropop superstar celebrated hers yesterday with an unforgettable show at Hammersmith's Eventim Apollo, kicking off a six-month world tour that winds up in Australia in November.
And that’s not all she’s got to celebrate. Londoners have had exactly four days to learn the lyrics to Tems’ debut album Born in the Wild, which came out last Friday and has been greeted with huge critical acclaim. But despite having far less time to get to know the album than those in Sydney will, you’d think the crowd had been listening for years.
She glided into view wearing a Ferrari-red, custom SRVC look, launching into what is sure to be one of the hits from the new record, Gangsta. It was a surprisingly bold opener; no soft start, just addictive energy from the off, followed immediately by equally upbeat Wickedest.
It’s near-impossible not to dance to Tems, particularly when she demonstrates precisely how it’s done: grooving across the stage, grinding into the air, and rolling her body to the sound of screaming fans.
In the past, people have critiqued her for sounding off key when performing live. Tems’ rumbling contralto often teeters on the edge of flat, creating a unique tone that has sometimes confused new listeners. As a child, growing up in Lagos, Tems was bullied for her deep, androgynous voice. Today, that same velvet purr is her superpower — which she proved in her third song, Turn Me Up, twirling between airy high notes and her infamous bass.
“Let’s keep the crazy phase going!” she teased, before leading us into throwback tracks Crazy Tings and Replay, much to the delight of the audience. She took us on a brief detour into hip-hop with new song T-Unit, before diving into her beloved Future and Drake feature, Wait For You.
Following Free Fall and Forever, Tems vanished backstage.’ Wait, is it over?’ we pondered for the first, but not the last, time of the evening. Title track Born in the Wild played while behind-the-scenes footage of the singer recording her debut was projected onto the screen. Eventually she remerged, dedicating Boy O Boy to “everyone who took you for granted” (an F-You of a song disguised as a ballad).
Finally, we got to the big three: the hits everyone was waiting for. Love Me Jeje, Essence and Me & You provided an overwhelming dose of joy and celebration. It was the perfect way to end the show. Except, it kept going.
Tems continued into Get it Right, before vanishing once more. It wasn’t long before she was dragged back onstage to be serenaded with Happy Birthday, and then, to our surprise, continued the show with Higher and Free Mind.
She waved goodbye once again. Is it over? Not yet. As we gathered our belongings her voice echoed from backstage: “Do you guys want one more?” …silly question. She closed the night with the appropriately-titled final song of the album, Hold On – and we’re glad we did.
