you see the trouble with me black legend

Millions have become enamored not only with her hypnotic vocals, but her expressive tone and pensive lyrics. “It’s now that I’m getting used to articulating my words in a way that other people can understand.” And that was my only way to express how I felt about that certain situation.” So instead, I would go and make a song about it. “When I was much younger, if someone tells me off, I mostly wouldn’t be able to say anything because I wouldn’t be able to articulate how I feel. But through song, she was able to easily navigate her emotions and work through issues. The songstress says that as a child, she had trouble expressing herself verbally – at least in ways that would resonate with others. It was my first way of expressing myself.” “All my music, actually it’s not something that I ‘try’ to do,” Tems told ESSENCE exclusively. Yet, Tems has managed to remain somewhat of an enigma, while still baring the most intimate parts of her soul and sharing deeply personal lived experiences. In our social-media-heavy age, few artists are so omnipresent yet still such a mystery to fans and admirers. The Nigerian songbird, whose soothing deep-register vocals have earned her both Soul Train Music honors and a BET award, has remained largely private and away from blog fodder – a rarity for other 27-year-olds in the industry. But despite multiple Grammy nominations, historic high-ranking Billboard placements, and slots on every major concert festival of 2022, for the most part, Tems remains an enigma. Her voice has constantly been blaring out of car sound systems for nearly two years straight with not one, but two summer anthems now under her belt (just try to escape her ubiquitous chorus for Drake’s “Wait For U”/her live performance of 2020 solo single “Higher”).

You see the trouble with me black legend