The Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems has shared her story of overcoming body dysmorphia in the early stages of her career.
The mental disease known as body dysmorphia disorder is characterised by an obsession with a perceived physical defect.
The “Me And You” hitmaker revealed in an interview with YouTube content producer Korty EO that she was first self-conscious about the way her body looked.
She claimed that while many guys were typically “seduced” by her, it felt as like it was preventing her from “achieving her goals” of being a musician.
he 28-year-old also said in order not to distract the opposite sex, she would always wear “baggy clothes” anytime she went to the studio.
“I used to not always like my body, crazy as it seems. I just did not understand a lot of things, I was going to a lot of studios alone. Meeting people I have never met, meeting people that do not know me, I was unknown,” she said.
“I would message people saying I have been working on this, I want to share this because I know I have something. I can help, I want to learn how to produce maybe I will produce for people because of my objective which was I just want to make music.
“I do not really care about politics or anything here, I just want to learn, I want to be here to learn and if me being attractive is disturbing and stopping me from achieving my goals, I am going to help you. So when I go to the studio, I wear baggy clothes and I am in my alpha mode.
“Because I do not want you to be seduced by me and I am not going to be like it is your choice. Yes, it is your choice if you want to be seduced but when I am around, just let us work. Most of the time it works because they can tell, she is just here to work.”
The songstress earlier claimed that many men only want sex in relationships.
Tems rose to fame in 2020 following her collaboration with Wizkid on the hit song ‘Essence’.
In 2023, Tems won her first Grammy award in the ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ category for her role in ‘Wait for U’, a song by Future featuring Drake.
In March, she was honoured with the ‘Breakthrough Award’ at the Billboard Women in Music Awards.
Her debut album ‘Born in the Wild’, featuring J. Cole and Asake, is set for release on June 7.
