Why I Used to Hate Hearing and Performing 'Essence' - Tems

Nigerian singer Tems is best known for her hit songs like "Essence", "Free Mind", "Try Me", and such. But this year, with the release of her studio album Born in the Wild, she has added on some new songs to her catalogue including hits like "Me & U", "Love Me Jeje", and more.

Speaking during a new interview with Apple Music, Tems opened up about how before releasing her album, she actually started to have a hatred for hearing and performing some of her older music like "Essence" and "Free Mind". She spoke about why this happened, and opened up about why it has completely changed for her once again, explaining why now she has grown a new love for those songs. Here is what Tems had to say.

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During the interview, Tems was asked "Do you ever get tired of listening to yourself, or performing certain songs?" to which she said:

TEMS: Not anymore. That's so crazy. When I hadn't dropped my album, and I was still performing songs from my older stuff, I hated hearing my stuff. I didn't like performing. I didn't like performing "Essence", I didn't like performing "Free Mind", I was just like--I didn't like performing anything. I was just like no! How can I be performing these songs still? I'm still trying to work on my album. I just felt like I'm still performing these songs, I've not refreshed my catalogue.

But now I have more songs, I'm able to appreciate those songs again. And I love performing "Essence" and I love performing "Free Mind". There is no song that I have that I don't love to hear or perform. Even if I hear it on the radio or sometimes, I go somewhere and they start playing my song, I would be mad--not mad, but I would be like "oh no, why are they doing this?" Now I'm just like "awww, this is so sweet. Yes. Thank you. I remember that song." Y'know?

It feels like I've grown. And I think I only realize by looking back on my life and looking back on how I started. It feels like there's been a growth. I feel new. I feel refreshed, which I'm really grateful for. I've found a new love again for music.

What do you think about what Tems had to say?

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