Tems had only N200 when we met – Manager

Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, better known by her stage as Tems, has revealed a story about her modest upbringing with her manager, Muyiwa Awoniyi.

Tems had only N200 in her bank account when he first met her, according to Awoniyi, who made this revelation on a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast.

He claims that in spite of her financial difficulties, he was impressed by her tenacity and commitment, which increased her desire to formally establish their working partnership.

According to him: "Tems did something that made me say, 'Let's do a company instead of a managerial contract.'"

"I accepted her request to be her manager and promised to provide her a contract for her to sign. Everything had previously been verbally agreed upon. It's always difficult to get artists to sign paperwork, you know. She, however, was pressuring me to sign my own portion. And I've never had that experience before.

"You don't mind signing documents?" I asked. Wait, let's avoid doing this. I can rock with you for the rest of my life. Let's launch a business. I had been acquainted with Tems for about three months before this, and we had never discussed working together.

She would simply be sitting there when my cousin and I were conversing back when I was conducting my podcast.

She was definitely not financially stable at the time. Tems had about 200 Naira in her account when we first met. I had a production firm after that.

Therefore, I would purchase food if I had money. The fact that she would order food for us while having no money further astounded me. She had no means of earning money. She is different from everyone I have seen in Nigeria, I have just realized.