‘Women are not respected in music industry’, Tems

Famous Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has spoken about certain challenges women face in the music industry.

In an interview with BBC on Tuesday, Tems claimed that women are often disrespected and overlooked in the music industry.

She noted that this act makes it harder for women to succeed and be taken seriously.

“I just found out that people don’t really respect women a lot in the music industry. It was difficult to find people to take me seriously, but it didn’t mean I stopped; I just kept on going. I wanted to redefine the perspective that women have of themselves. As a woman myself, I’m the best person to start something like this, so that’s really the aim,” she said.

The singer who is a two-time Grammy-award winner, revealed that she is working on a project ‘The leading vibe Initiative’, targeted at empowering women in the industry.

“It is to change the way women see themselves in music. For me, it is not just artists; it is also producers, audio engineers, instrumentalists, and managers interested in managing other women. When people tell you to change your style and sound, you look at them and say so. If it means me not being signed, I’m okay with that. I went to a couple of places that didn’t sign me, and I was okay with that. Like any other football fan, I never imagined myself being in ownership of any football team, but I think it is also a space where women are underrepresented,” she said.

Tems also emphasised the importance of the project and why it is very personal to her. She stated that she wants women to thrive in any space they find themselves.

“I was fortunate enough to get that opportunity brought to me, and I jumped on it because I feel like women don’t see themselves in that space, and I needed it to be known that women can be in any space that they want,” she stated.