When two-time Grammy Award winner Temilade Openiyi, known professionally as Tems arrives in Nairobi this weekend her energy will not only be focused on headlining her first ever show in Kenya, but she will also be looking forward to her new initiative designed to help women find their path to success in the music industry.
Nairobi is the second city to host the Leading Vibe Initiative (LVI), a one-day empowerment programme for young women in the recording business.
Early in August 2025, Tems assembled 20 women from Nigeria’s music industry in her hometown, Lagos, to launch the skills and mentorship program aimed at tackling the gender imbalance in the sector.
“When I started out as an artist, I had to teach myself everything, from production to navigating the music industry. Today I’m fortunate to have a team that shares my vision, but I know my story is not unique,” Tems told BD Life early this week, through her publicist.
According to her, there are many women with the same drive and potential, but without access to the right tools or network to break through barriers in the music business.
Seeing that initial group come together in Lagos, supporting each other was a reminder to her of why this project matters. “We are building pathways for women to lead, thrive, and take up space across the global music industry,” says Tems.
Album cover of ‘Born in the Wild’ by Nigerian singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy Award winner Tems.
Photo credit: Pool
The LVI experience is curated for Kenyan-based female artists, songwriters and producers aged 18-35 who are seeking professional growth and access to a network of peers across the world.
The programme comprises studio sessions, creative workshops and masterclasses conducted by experts on songwriting, music production and the business of music.
The appearance by Tems as a headline act at this weekend’s Blankets and Wine festival coincides with her own mission on amplifying female voices in the industry.
“As a female-founded and led organisation, it gives us great joy to platform the definitive female artist from Africa,” says Muthoni “DMQ” Ndonga, Festival Director of Blankets and Wine, and a performing artist in her own right.
Under-representation of female songwriters, artists and producers is a major concern not only across the African continent, but worldwide.
The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report published in the US in 2023 and carried out over a decade of popular music indicates that 22 percent of artists, 12 percent of songwriters and 3 percent of music producers globally are women.
Music streaming platform Spotify runs the EQUAL programme to address gender disparities faced by female artists, while some established female artists in Kenya have existing programmes to uplift the status of women in the music industry.
Muthoni founded perFORM, a music business and artistic development incubator to develop artists, publicists, event producers and other players, with the objective of a broader and sustainable gender representation across the industry.
Women In Music is a program started by trumpeter Christine Kamau drawing on the experiences and challenges facing women in the industry while percussionist Kassiva Mutua mentors young drummers and percussionists through MOTRAMUSIC
Those who are fortunate to join the LVI programme in Nairobi on September 29, will draw firsthand from the experiences of an artist whose own story of building her way to the very top of the music business is relatable. Tems who turned 30 on June 11, learnt music production by watching videos on YouTube.
In 2018, she produced her debut single Mr Rebel creating a rhythm that leaned heavily on R&B/Soul, which combined with a deep and intimate vocal delivery, that has defined her sound since then.
Her first EP For Broken Ears was released in 2020 and the following year, Tems became a global star thanks to a feature on the Grammy-nominated single Essence by her compatriot Wizkid.
She won her first Grammy Award after US rapper Future sampled her vocals for the single Wait for U, also featuring Drake.
After two EPs and several collaborations, Tems released her debut album Born in The Wild in 2024.
Nigerian singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy Award winner Tems at the 95th Annual Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 12, 2023.
Photo credit: Pool
Data released by Spotify this week, ahead of the Nigerian’s maiden performance in Nairobi, ranks the city among the Top 5 worldwide cities in listenership of Tems and which accounts for a significant share of her global streams. 67 percent of her streams in Kenya come from 18–24-year-olds with a further 18 percent from the 25-29 age demographic.
Her average daily streams rose about 11 percent from the end of July into August, in anticipation of her first ever performance in Kenya. Her most played songs on the platform are Me & U, Damages, Essence, Love Me Jeje, the latter won her a second Grammy early this year.
While launching LVI in Lagos, Tems said her aim is to change the way women see themselves in music by providing opportunities for young women throughout the music industry in Africa.
That echoes her acceptance speech while receiving the Best International Act award at the 2022 BET Awards in Los Angeles: “Where I am from in Lagos, this is a dream come true, as you are watching me, imagine yourself as me, you are meant to be here, too”
