So Good They Named Her Twice: Tems wins Grammy for Best African Music Performance
Nigerian singer and songwriter Tems (Temilade Openiyi) saw off a stellar cast of African music superstars to clinch the 2025 Grammy award for the Best African Music Performance with her hit single “Love Me Jeje.”
The 67th Grammy Award held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday evening.
Other nominees in the category were Burna Boy (Higher), Chris Brown featuring Davido and Lojay (Sensational), Yemi Alade (Tomorrow), and Asake featuring Wizkid (MMS).
Love Me Jeje, which sampled a line from Seyi Sodimu’s 1997 Nigerian classic of identical title, currently has 20 million views on YouTube and 125 million listens on Spotify.
In 2024, South Africa’s Tyla won the maiden award in that category for her hit single, Water.
Tems is the first Nigerian to have won two Grammy awards, following her 2023 win in the Best Melodic Rap Performance for featuring on Future’s hit song, Wait For U.
Burna Boy and Wizkid have both won the Grammys once.
“Wow, dear God thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing this team, and tomorrow is my mum’s birthday, and this is her first Grammys. I just want to thank you mum, because she has done a lot for me and my brother,” the 29-year-old said in an emotional acceptance speech.
The Nigerian singer was also nominated in two other categories of the 2025 edition – Best Global Music Album for Born in the Wild and Best R&B Song for Burning.
In total, she has now received eight nominations in all, winning two awards, across her blossoming music career.
