Album Review: Born In the Wild by Tems

Tems drops her long-awaited debut album. It has some new sounds but also goes back to ideas she's talked about before, like trying to find peace and love and understand her feelings better.

Courtesy of RCA Records/Since 93’.

Tems became famous around the world in the late 2010s for her special mix of alternative R&B and Afrobeat music. She barely made it through high school in Lagos, Nigeria. After that, she tried really hard not to go to college. Her mom sent in college applications for her, but Tems would miss the deadlines on purpose. She didn’t have many friends, felt really down a lot, and had an amazing singing voice that was rich and smooth. Music seemed like the only thing that made sense for her to do. But her mom wasn’t okay with that. She made Tems go to a university in South Africa that let her sign up late. Even with all the hard stuff she went through, Tems put out a song called “Try Me.”

Tems protected her unique sound even before she got really famous. When she was starting out, people in the music business told her to change her style so she could make it in Nigerian music. But Tems stuck with her super emotional way of making songs. It was the same style that made her EP For Broken Ears so powerful. The songs felt really personal and intense, like reading someone’s private letters. Along with the way she sang so freely and was so real about her feelings, no one could doubt anymore that Tems was a true artist.

In 2020, Tems was about to release her first EP. Out of the seven tracks on it, three really stood out: “Damages,” “Free Mind,” and “The Key.” The main single, “Damages,” was the most-played song on Nigerian radio. Over the next months, the rest of the world started to see how amazing Tems was, too. She had an incredible part in WizKid’s song “Essence,” which made it on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A remix with Justin Bieber got the song into the Top 20. There was a short video going around online of Adele meeting Tems and happily singing Tems’ song “Try Me” to her. Drake had Tems sing on “Fountains,” a chill track from his 2021 album Certified Ped—Certified Lover Boy. Now, with a lot of the biggest artists wanting to work with her, Tems is back with another EP called If Orange Was a Place.

Fast-forward four years later, we finally arrived with Born In the Wild, her highly-anticipated debut album. For the most part, GuiltyBeatz curated the soundscape for the record, with Afrobeats, R&B, dancehall, reggae, and plenty of others. Although Tems explores some new territories, she also goes back to ideas she's talked about before, like trying to find peace and love and understand her feelings better. “Burning,” “Get It Right,” “Hold On,” “Free Fall” with a solid J. Cole feature, and the title track, “Born In the Wild,” do fall in that category, but it works on Tems’ arsenal.

On the other hand, the singles “Love Me JeJe” and “Me & U” were alright for they are, but they don’t stick out once you hear the album in full. However, again, it serves their purpose. Some of the album’s best cuts are when her songwriting levels up with the music behind it. “Unfortunate” premiered on her NPR Tiny Desk performance earlier this week, and it did not disappoint with its soul-barring production around the narrative of self-liberation from a toxic relationship but used symbolic imagery to underscore the struggle and triumph (“Oh, there’s a shark in the water, swimmin’ across the sea/But in the words of my mother, I'm livin’ in victory”).

Following up the title track, “Burning,” captures a sense of internal conflict and self-reflection through its straightforward lyrics by setting the stage with a juxtaposition of newfound fame and personal struggle, encapsulated in the recurrent imagery of fire and dreams with an R&B composition and a hip-hop backdrop, “Wickedest” radiates a sense of empowerment and relentless ambition that makes it an immediate standout, and “You In My Face” pontificates, well, about a man being her face that the soundscape will remind others of Sade.

Tems’ music style is more complex and easy to describe. She moves between different genres but doesn’t stick to just one type of music. Sometimes, her songs have a jazz feel and are basic. Other times, they’re more groovy and full of soul, like “T-Unit” and “Ready.” And there are moments where the way she sings almost sounds like rapping. That’s because she really loved Kendrick Lamar’s music when she was a kid. That’s why they did an interview together last year.

Tems says Frank Ocean’s detailed, dreamy storytelling in his songs was super crucial for her to study and learn from as she developed her music on The Cut interview earlier this year. She thinks anyone who listens to both of them can hear how Frank Ocean influenced her sound. Even if some of the songs on the album aren’t great, Tems’ future is just getting started, and the debut is a starting point, and the best is yet to come.

Solid (★★★½☆)

Favorite Track(s): “Wickedest,” “Unfortunate,” “You In My Face”