Tems has never been easy to box in, and she’s making that point louder than ever. The Nigerian singer is pushing back on the Afrobeats label that gets slapped on her music almost automatically, saying her sound sits closer to alternative R&B and soul than anything else.
It’s a distinction that matters to her, and honestly, it’s one that’s been a long time coming. Anyone who has spent real time with her catalog knows her music carries a different weight, a slower burn, something that owes more to classic soul influences than to the dancefloor energy Afrobeats is typically associated with.
The conversation around genre labels in African music has been getting louder for a while now. Artists, critics, and fans have been debating whether Afrobeats has become too broad a term, a catch-all that flattens real differences in style, intention, and influence.
Tems stepping into that conversation publicly adds serious weight to it. She is one of the most globally recognized artists to come out of Nigeria in recent years, so when she says the label doesn’t fit, people are going to listen.
There is also a commercial and cultural angle here that’s hard to ignore. Afrobeats as a brand has enormous global momentum right now, and some artists lean into that association because it opens doors.
Tems choosing to distance herself from it suggests she’s more interested in defining her own lane than riding a wave, even a very successful one.
Her alternative R&B and soul classification isn’t just a rebrand, it’s a statement about artistic identity. Soul music carries a specific lineage, a set of emotional and musical values, and claiming that lineage means something different than accepting a genre tag assigned by streaming platforms or international press.
Not everyone will agree with her framing, of course. Some listeners and commentators feel that resisting the Afrobeats label can sometimes read as distancing from African identity itself, which is a tension that has come up with other artists in similar conversations. That reading may be unfair to Tems, but it’s part of the debate she’s now walking into.
What’s clear is that she’s not making this point quietly or apologetically. This is a deliberate clarification, the kind that tends to spark longer conversations about how African artists are categorized, marketed, and understood outside the continent.
Her fanbase has largely responded with support, with many pointing out that her music has always felt distinct from the Afrobeats mainstream.
For them, this is less a surprise and more a long-overdue acknowledgment of something they already knew.
The genre debate in African music is far from settled, and Tems putting her name firmly on one side of it means the discussion is only going to get more interesting from here.
