Nigerian music star Tems didn’t start her journey with fame or fortune. Her manager, Muyiwa Awoniyi, has shared how she had just 200 naira in her account when they first met. Despite that, her kindness and dedication stood out to him immediately.
Muyiwa revealed this while speaking on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast. He explained that Tems had no steady source of income at the time, but she still made efforts to be thoughtful and generous.
Muyiwa Awoniyi
According to him, “Back then when I was doing my podcast, she would just be sitting down while me and my cousin are talking. Then obviously, she wasn’t financially buoyant in any capacity. When I met Tems, she only had about 200 Naira in her account.”
Even without money, Tems still looked out for those around her. “Then I had a production company. So, if I had money, I would buy food. Another thing that shocked me was that even though she didn’t have money, she will order food for us. She didn’t even have a way of earning.”
Muyiwa said it became clear she was unlike anyone he’d ever worked with. “So, I just realised that she is different from everyone I have seen in Nigeria.”
He added that her focus and seriousness about her career caught his attention. When they decided to work together, Tems was the one pushing him to finalize things. “There was something Tems did that made me say, ‘I don’t want to do a managerial contract with you, let’s do a company.’”
He continued, “When she asked me to be her manager, I agreed and said I would send her a contract to sign. We had already verbally agreed on everything. You know, when you present paperwork for artists to sign, it’s always tricky. But she was chasing me to sign my own part. And I have never experienced that before.”
In the end, he knew this partnership was for the long run. “I was like, ‘You don’t mind signing paperwork? Hold on, let’s not do this. You’re someone I can rock with for life. Let’s start a company.’ Prior to this, Tems and I were friends for about three months and we never spoke about working together.”
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