January 17, (THEWILL) – Grammy award-winning singer, Temilade Openiyi, aka Tems, has recalled how she was bullied while growing up over the pitch of her voice.
Tems revealed that she did not speak until age three, adding that singing came naturally to her.
She said she grew up feeling self-conscious because her voice had bass and did not sound like other girls with sweet voices.
The songstress was bullied to the point of tears and was a target of ridicule.
Tems said this led her to believe that she sounded like a boy or a frog, or that her voice was ugly.
The 28-year-old singer said she would later develop the faith to sound like herself under the tutelage of her music teacher in secondary school.
“I was always in my own little world. I was not very social. When I did make friends, I would try to make them sing my songs,” she said.
Tems had previously revealed that she started making music because she did not have friends.
She said music is her way of expressing her mind and connecting with people.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
