Fact Check: Tems is Not the First Grammy-winning Nigerian Female Musician

Nigerian singer Tems made history on Sunday, February 5th, 2023, by being a part of the winning team for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The award-winning song, “Wait For U,” features Tems, as well as rappers Future and Drake, both of whom are renowned in the music industry.

Moments after the announcement, social media posts circulated claiming that Nigerian female artist Temilade Openiyi, known professionally as Tems, was the first Nigerian female musician to win the Grammy Award.

Pulse Nigeria, a popular Nigerian entertainment blog, made an incorrect claim via a tweet on their official page (@pulseNigeria247) stating that Tems is the first Nigerian female artist to receive a Grammy Award.

The tweet read:

• “#GRAMMYS: @temsbaby  is the first Nigerian female artist to win the Grammy Award.”

As of 12:00 AM on Monday, February 6, 2023, the tweet had received over 7,500 likes and more than 1,207 retweets in less than three hours.

The Claim: Tems is the first Nigerian female artist to win the Grammy Award.

Fact Check:

The Grammy Awards, commonly referred to as the Grammys, are annual awards presented by the Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry.

The awards were first held on May 4, 1959, and have since become a widely-recognized symbol of excellence in the music industry. The 65th edition of the Grammys took place on February 5, 2023.

Nigerian artist Tems, born Temilade Openiyi on June 11, 1995, was among the winners at the 65th Grammys. Tems received the award for Best Melodic Rap Performance for her collaboration on the track “Wait For U” with Future and Drake.

According to an investigation conducted by MandyNews.com, it has been revealed that while Tems won at the 65th Grammy Awards, she was not the first Nigerian female artist to receive the prestigious award. This contradicts the viral claims that Tems was the first to achieve this accomplishment.

In 1985, Sade Adu, a renowned artist of Nigerian descent born in Nigeria, was awarded a Grammy for the Best New Artist category.

She has received Grammy Awards in various categories in 1993, 2001, and 2010.

Jenn Nkiru, a British-Nigerian filmmaker, co-directed the video for Beyoncé’s hit single “Brown Skin Girl,” earning a Grammy win in 2021 alongside Wizkid.

It is worth noting that several Nigerian female entertainers have been nominated for Grammy Awards in the past, despite not winning the prestigious prize.

Rating: False

The claim that Tems is the first Nigerian female musician to win a Grammy Award is false. Sade Adu was the first female musician of Nigerian descent to receive this honor followed by Jenn Nkiru.