The debate about who is the bigger artist between Tems and Tiwa Savage is one that netizens (online citizens) and music lovers have made paramount in the past few months and especially after Tiwa’s performance at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert which took place on May7th.
Before Tiwa’s performance at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert, there had been a section of opinion leaders who completely wrote Tiwa off as far as this debate was concerned. However, Tiwa’s performance at the Coronation Concert might have just quadrupled her points in this debate.
In my opinion, it is quite interesting to watch fans compare Tems to Tiwa, which just sums up her growth in less than a decade for you. However, using the Grammy as the only benchmark to compare Tems to Tiwa is a very obvious gesture of online users who are always too quick to forget one’s accolades built over the years and are quick to compare it to others with quick fame and popularity even if the person who rose to fame quickly rose to rise might be a one hit wonder (which is the case of Tems but I’m just saying).Tiwa’s run in the music industry, emphatically dates as far back as 2009. From that time till now, she has been ontop of her game and still the only female artist from her generation to still have her foot on the gas. Many people need to understand that Tiwa is one of the few Nigerian artists to have returned to settle in Nigeria after being oversees for many years and she has contributed in making Afrobeats what it is today.
By her standards as The Queen of Afrobeats, Tiwa is still to win the Grammy, which can’t be the only prerequisite to judge success. Of course, it’s an award many singers would wish they won before calling it quits, but that alone can’t be the measuring rod for what most artists who’ve not been able to win it.
Watching Tiwa go from Sony Music, Marvin Records, then to Universal Music Group, while still flying high years after, I can tell you that very few artists have been and will be able to do what she has done for Nigerian and African music as a whole. think that if we were to compare Tiwa and Tems,based off of the discographies of both female artists, then the debate would be sealed in favor of Tiwa!
This post is in no way disregarding Tems’ achievements during her short music career. It is just to highlight that the comparison between both artists is not realistic and respectful enough for what Tiwa has done for and contributed to the culture. Maybe some other artist can be compared with Tiwa, but definitely not Tems.
Editor’s Note: This is an opinion post which reflects only the writer’s opinions and views and does not reflect the views of TheHotJem.
