Tems wrote “What You Need” seven years ago while getting through a breakup. On October 21, 2026, that same song logged its 30th week on the Billboard Hot 100. That makes it the longest charting solo song by an African artist in the chart’s history.
It edges past a shared record of 29 weeks held by Tyla’s “Water” and CKay’s “Love Nwantiti.” At the time of the milestone, the track sat at No. 33, a few spots below its No. 29 peak.
The route there was anything but straight. What You Need” first appeared on Love Is a Kingdom, the seven track EP Tems dropped without warning on November 21, 2025, through RCA Records and Since ’93. It was her first solo project since her 2024 debut album, Born in the Wild.
The song entered the Hot 100 at No. 93 in February 2026, and a few weeks later the labels pushed it again as a standalone single. Its 30 weeks are spread across 37 chart weeks, so it has fallen off and clawed its way back more than once.
Radio did a lot of the heavy lifting. In July it hit No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay after becoming the most played song on reporting stations during the June 19 to 25 tracking period. That gave Tems her fourth chart topper there.
August brought a No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, her third after “Free Mind” and the Wizkid collaboration “Essence.” By October it had also topped Rhythmic Airplay, her first No. 1 on that chart as a lead artist.
The personal side explains part of the pull. Speaking to EE72, Tems said, “Writing music helps me release pain and it helps me to heal.” She added that finishing a song lets her let go of “everything I felt” so she can “forgive” and “move on.”
The track centres on the hard realisation that she cannot be what someone else needs. The June 2026 video leans into it, with Tems straining against a brick wall and smashing plates as the picture slowly bleeds from black and white into colour.
Fans saw themselves in it. “To know that there’s people out there that relate to this song and what I’ve experienced, honestly warms my heart!!” Tems wrote after the release.
There’s a career angle here too. Her biggest US moments have mostly come alongside other stars, from “Essence” in 2021 to Future’s “Wait for U” with Drake, which hit No. 1 and spent 41 weeks on the chart.
Before this, her longest running solo entry was “Free Mind” at 21 weeks. “What You Need” passed that during week 23 and has kept going, which shows she can hold the spotlight on her own.
Zoom out and the record says something about African music in America as well. CKay opened the door, Tyla’s “Water” pushed through to a No. 7 peak, and now the conversation has shifted from getting onto the Hot 100 to staying there.
A run this long needs steady streaming, sales and airplay week after week, and Tems has found it without a huge debut or a top 10 peak. Thirty weeks in, the song is still on the chart and the count keeps climbing.
