It’s time for Tems. The Nigerian superstar is queueing up the release of her highly anticipated debut album Born In The Wild later this month. Details about the project are scarce thus far, but she has given us samples with singles “Me & U” and “Not An Angel.” Tems continues to dole out ear candy and build excitement for her debut with her fun new song “Love Me JeJe” and its vibrant video.
The Afrobeats bop produced by Spax and GuiltyBeatz is an ode to a love that’s earned the title and is reaping the benefits that include exclusivity and loyalty. “I need your loving / So fresh, so clean / Love me in and out / Unfailingly / And I’ll be down now anytime you call me / I’ll be down, I’ll be down,” Tems sings to open the song, her sultry voice purring the promise.
Tems’ “Love Me JeJe” interpolates Seyi Sodimu’s 1997 song “Love Me Jeje.” Sodimu, a popular Nigerian singer-songwriter in the ’90s and 2000s, is hailed as a pioneer in Nigeria’s flourishing music industry. The songstress borrows from the original’s chorus, flipping it into a bridge and adding her flair.
“I said, love me jeje, love me tender / (Love me jeje, love me tender) / Say love me jeje, love me tender / (Love me jeje, love me tender) / You’re my sugar, my honey, my tender lover / (You my sugar, my honey, my tender lover),” she sings in a call-and-response style with her background singers.
For the “Love Me JeJe” visual, creative director Mike Carson and director of photography Ayinde Anderson bring Tems’ vision to life in the self-directed video. As she rides around on a flatbed through Lagos, seemingly floating through the air in a striking red halter and long skirt with a thigh-high slit, Africa’s most populous city comes alive. When she’s not performing on the flatbed, she navigates traffic in the back of a taxi and has a karaoke kickback in a nightclub full of revelers – including Seyi Sodimu who makes a cameo in the video dancing with Tems.
“Love Me JeJe” is quite the party starter, and Tems has us all in. She’s three for three with her recent singles, which we’ll be keeping on repeat as we not-so-patiently await Born In The Wild to drop.
Listen to “Love Me JeJe” and watch the karaoke party-themed lyric visualizer and official music video below. For fun’s sake, check out Seyi’s original “Love Me Jeje” and video, too.
