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Tems tells Apple Music how she made her new single ‘Love Me Jeje’.
In an interview with Apple Music, Nigerian Grammy award-winning artist Tems shared how she created her latest single, ‘Love Me Jeje’.
Tems revealed that the song originated from a spontaneous night out with friends, which eventually led them to the studio, where her producers, Guilty and Spax, presented her with a beat as a challenge.
During the session, one of Tems’s friends improvised the iconic line “Love Me Jeje, Love Me Tender,” borrowed from Seyi Sodimu’s 1997 classic. Inspired by the moment, Tems followed suit and contributed her own freestyled verses, which gradually evolved into the song “Love Me Jeje.”
This collaborative and organic approach to songwriting underscores Tems’s creative process, highlighting the power of spontaneity and collective inspiration in crafting memorable music.
“So basically, I went out to dinner with my girls, with my friends, two of my friends. We’re just like, “Oh, let’s just do a cute dinner. It’s going to be cute.” And afterward, my friends are always telling me, you never show us your Tems side. Everybody else, yeah, you’re Tems, but my friends don’t feel like I am when I’m there. It’s just like, I’m this girl. So they’re like, “Oh, you never take us to the studio. We don’t even know if you are like… Are you a doppelganger? Are you like, what is that?” So I said, “Okay, tonight we’re going to the studio and you people, you are going to sing?” So they were like, “Oh my god, crazy. What?” So we went to the studio and two of my producers, they made this beat, Spax and Guilty and they sent it to me as a challenge like, “Oh. Yeah, I’m sure you can’t do Nigerian. I am sure you can’t do this jam.
So I was like, I just had it in the back. So I played it and I told my friends, “Yeah, let’s all freestyle, take turns. Oh yeah, you do freestyle, you…” So one of my friends did “Love Me Jeje, Love Me Tender.” And then my other friend was just screaming as well. And I was like, “Actually this is a mad vibe. I love this vibe. I’m going to keep this in the song.” And I did my own freestyle and it just was such a cute vibe and I wanted to pay tribute to the actual song ’cause I love that song. My mom loves that song. “Love Me Jeje.” The original song is from Seyi Sodimu. The original song is called “Love Me Jeje” as well and it’s a Nigerian classic and it just felt right.”
“Love Me Jeje,” released on April 26, features Tems sampling the classic Nigerian song “Love Me Jeje” by Seyi Sodimu featuring Bello Shaffy.
As one of the lead singles from her upcoming debut album, “Born In The Wild,” Tems infuses her unique style into the track, while paying homage to the original.
She describes her album as a collection of experiences and lessons that have shaped her into the person she is today, promising listeners an intimate journey into her world through her music.