Grammy-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter Tems has pushed back against the global music industry’s tendency to label all African-produced sound as "Afrobeats," asserting that her own music belongs in the realm of R&B, soul, and alternative sounds.

Speaking during a recent US media interview, the Born in the Wild artist expressed frustration over how media outlets and music blogs automatically categorise music originating from Nigeria under a single umbrella term.

"My music is alternative Afro, Soul, R&B, it's like a mesh of different genres. I noticed that any music that comes out of Nigeria, people just put it under Afrobeat because it's Nigeria, it's Africa. So now the new name for African music seems to be Afrobeat," Tems explained.

The singer clarified that she deliberately uploads her records under R&B, arguing that the media and commentators struggle to recognize the vast genre diversity coming out of the continent.

"I don't know that that's right because there's so many genres. But also I think they just don't really know what to classify.

"When I released my music, I put R&B under the genre. So it's really the blogs and whoever that says Afrobeat. That's not the type of music I make," she added.

Tems joins a growing list of top-tier Nigerian superstars, including Burna Boy and Wizkid, who have publicly resisted the "Afrobeats" label.

Burna Boy previously coined the term "Afro-fusion" for his sound, while Wiezkid publicly requested in 2024 that blogs stop calling him an Afrobeats artist, arguing the term restricts African musicians to a monolith.

Watch the video below:

“I’m not an Afrobeats artist. When I release my music, I classify it as R&B, but blogs keep calling it Afrobeats. I’ve noticed that any music that comes out of Africa is automatically categorized as Afrobeats.”

— Tems pic.twitter.com/YEsKkCdT0a

— carter🌚 (@carter8f) August 31, 2026