EP – If Orange Was A Place
Mood – Funky, Relaxed, Chill,
Genre – RnB/Soul
Songwriters – Tems, Brent Faiyaz
Runtime – 25 minutes
Tracks – 5
Producers – Guiltybeats , Jonah Christian
Label – Since 93 / RCA Records
Features – Brent Faiyaz
Release date: 4th of September, 2021
Temilade Openiyi popularly known as Tems is a Nigerian singer/songwriter. Tems had her first major breakthrough as an artiste when she released the single “ Mr Rebel” in 2018. Tems gained acceptance because of her unique style of music and lyrics, endearing physical attributes and simple fashion style.The track “Try me“ released in 2019 further positioned Tems as one of the rising female artistes to look out for in the Nigerian music industry. “Try me” became a major ALTE hit and opened Tems careeer to the mainstream Nigerian audience. The song also landed her shows and top features such as “Tales by Moonlight” with SDC and “Trouble” with DRB lasgidi. She released her debut EP “For Broken Ears” in September, 2020 to positive reviews. A single off the EP titled “Damages” became a hit and currently has over 7 million views on YouTube.
The life changing track that landed Tems fully in the international scene is her 2020 track with Wizkid titled “Essence”. The track is off Wizkid’s highly celebrated album “Made in Lagos”. The song became the first Nigerian song to crack the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #8 on the United States Apple Music Charts. The song also became the most shazamed song in the United States in August 2021. Essence garnered worldwide attention and landed her a feature with Canadian Rapper, Drake on the track “Fountains” off his Certified Lover Boy Album as well as co-signs from major artistes like Adele, Justin Bieber, Wale and a host of others.
Capitalizing on the frenzy and love, Tems got a deal with one of the biggest Record labels in the world RCA and released her sophomore EP titled “If Orange Was A Place” on the 16th of September, 2021.
1) Crazy Tings – Tems goes groovy on this track, a shift away from her usual slow tempo songs and style. The track had elements of Afrobeats written all over it and the production by Ghanaian heavyweight producer, Guilty Beats attests to this. Tems talks about the Crazy Tings happening in her life while also linking the theme of the song with a play boy who wants to deceive her. She lets him know that she is also aware of his antics and wouldn’t fall for such. Good production, Good lyrics and excellent melody.
2) Found – Tems explores core RnB on this track showing us her prowess as an RnB artiste. She features American artiste, Brent Faiyaz on the track. The chemistry on the track is commendable as the artistes ensured that they flowed effortlessly on the joint while maintaining central theme. Superb production by Guilty beats.
3) Replay – Replay is a feel good track that should do well in the clubs. It’s a whining song for the Girls and a grooving track for the Boys. Produced by Jonah Christian, Tems briefly talks about her experience in Uganda and being unbothered about bad energy thrown at her.
4) Avoid Things – On Avoid Things, Tems talks about avoiding drama and bad energy in life. The track is a blend of electronics and pop.
5) Vibe Out – Vibe Out is another feel good track . Tems talks about about vibing outside and having fun. It reminds one of the Nigerian lingua “We outside”. Quality production from Guilty beats.
CONCLUSION
After the overwhelming success of Essence with Wizkid, a lot of music listeners and critics were in high expectations of Tems next single or project. Following in the footsteps of Wizkid market test run with the Ep “Sound Man VOl 1” before he dropped “Made in Lagos“, Tems decides to drop her sophomore EP “ If Orange Was A Place “.
The New EP sees a Tems that is ready to explore. Groovy Afrobeats tracks like “Crazy Tings” and RnB themed “ Found” attests to this fact. Tems is exploring new genres while still maintaining the distinctive traits and style that endeared her to millions of music lovers across the world.
If ‘Orange Was A Place” is an excellent experiment project to appeal to her new fan base in the United States and Europe while also ensuring the needs of her core home base fans in Africa are left satisfied. The production on the project is amazing, all thanks to Guilty beats. The only feature on the EP also performs excellently well. While we await Tems debut album, we expect to see tracks like “Crazy Tings” , “Found” and “Vibe Out” do really well worldwide especially with the new found backing from RCA.