Seun Emmanuel
Muyiwa Awoniyi, the manager of Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has revealed that the singer wasn’t financially buoyant when they first met.
Featuring a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, Awoniyi recalled that the singer had only N200 in her bank account during their first encounter.
He explained that despite Tems’ financial status, she was determined and dedicated, which made him agree to work with her.
He said, “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.’
“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 part. And I have never experienced that before.
“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.’ Before this, Tems and I were friends for about three months, and we never spoke about working together.
“Back then, when I was doing my podcast, she would just be sitting down while my cousins were talking.
“Then obviously, she wasn’t financially buoyant in any capacity. When I met Tems, she only had like 200 Naira in her account. And 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 would order food for us. She didn’t even have a way of earning. So, I just realised that she is different from everyone I have seen in Nigeria.”
