In a tweet in 2022, Tems announced that her debut studio album was scheduled for release in 2023. The album was delayed for unknown reasons with Tems teasing the album and instead releasing two singles "Me & U" and "Not an Angel", which marked her first solo music output since 2021 excluding her cover of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.[15][16] In March 2024, Tems told Billboard magazine that the album has been completed and that it would released in 2024.[17][18] Shortly afterwards, a private listening session for the album was held in Lagos, Nigeria and later Los Angeles and London.[19]
Promotion and release
While performing at her debut Coachella set in April, Tems officially announced that the album was ready and performed a rendition of "Love Me JeJe", an unreleased song off the album.[20] A day later, the album's title and release window of May was revealed along with a trailer, which featured a snippet of the title track.[20]
"Love Me JeJe" was released on 26 April 2024 as the first single off the album. A few weeks later, Tems officially announced the release date of 7 June 2024.[21] In May, Tems appeared on the American late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in May 2024, her debut appearance on the series to promote the album, performing a medley of "Love Me JeJe" and the album's title track "Born in the Wild".[21][22] On 30 May, Tems unveiled the album track list consisting of eighteen tracks; sixteen songs and two interludes. The track list further revealed J. Cole and Asake as guest features on the album.[23]
On 3 June, Tems further appeared on NPRTiny Desk Concert part of a series celebrating Black Music Month to promote the album performing the then unreleased song "Unfortunate" and "Forever" from the album.[24][25] Three days later, the album was released on all streaming platforms.
As scheduled Tems began her Born in the Wild Tour on June 11, her birthday starting with the European leg at the sold out Eventim Apollo in London and continued performing at tour stops across Europe, Australia and North America.[26][27] The North American leg of the tour commenced on August 22, 2024, in Miami and ended on October 10, 2024.[28]
Born in the Wild received high ratings across major publications both in Africa and globally for Tems' vocal delivery, lyrics and presentation.[32] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album received a weighted average score of 86 from 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[36]
NME gave the album a 100 rating stating that "From Highlife to hip-hop, this stunning debut exemplifies West Africa's rich musical diversity via the Beyoncé and Drake collaborator's fluid approach to genre."[2]Robin Murray reviewing for Clash noted that "Closing with" Hold On", this is a rich, velvet-smooth experience, and you're left to wonder who her peers truly are. The magnificence of Lauryn Hill? The success of Sade? Tems is out there in a lane of her own."[30]Pitchfork wrote that "On her adventurous and melancholic full-length debut, the Nigerian pop star re-asserts herself as an imaginative producer and the author of her own lore."[34]
Born in the Wild achieved several accomplishments and broke a series of records; the first for a Nigerian female artist. On the US overall Billboard 200 chart and it debuted at number fifty six with 16,500 equivalent album units sold.[52] It became the highest charting album by a Nigerian female artist on the chart surpassing Ayra Starr's The Year I Turned 21.[53] On the genre specific Top R&B Albums chart, Born in the Wild debuted at number five.[52] In Canada, the album peaked at number fifty two.
Across Europe, Born in the Wild debuted in the top thirty in the UK Album Chart,[54]Netherlands and Switzerland, in the latter peaking at number twenty two. The album charted on the Portuguese Album chart becoming the first Nigerian project to enter the chart.[55] In Nigeria, the album peaked at number three on TurnTable Albums, becoming Tems first top ten project on the chart.[56]
1 2 Denis, Carl Lamarre,Gail Mitchell,Damien Scott,Angel Diaz,Heran Mamo,Kyle (18 December 2024). "The 10 Best R&B Albums of 2024". Billboard. Retrieved 19 December 2024.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ W.O (3 December 2024). "The Best Albums Of 2024". Uproxx. Uproxx Music and Philip Cosores. Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
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