Key Takeaways:

• Love Is A Kingdom blends stripped-down manufacturing with Tems’ signature falsetto to create an intimate listening expertise.
• The EP arrives with no options, letting her vocals and storytelling take middle stage.
• Songs like “Lagos Love” mirror private experiences rooted in her Nigerian identification.

Being a world celebrity doesn’t defend you from desirous to really feel seen, beloved and understood — one thing Tems is aware of effectively. On Friday (Nov. 21), the “Burning” singer stunned followers with the discharge of Love Is A Kingdom.

Across its seven tracks, Tems sits within the difficult center floor of affection, particularly on songs like “Mine” and “What You Need.” On the opener, “First,” the Afrobeats star sings about “moving different” after being let down too many occasions. “I know they watching, they still checking about me / And yet, I know that without God, I’m nobody / Eternity is real, that’s the way I feel,” she croons.

“Big Daddy,” which got here with a visualizer directed by Jyde Ajala, finds Tems singing a couple of man who loves being known as “big daddy” regardless that he wasn’t there when she wanted him most. The following observe, “Lagos Love,” sees her pouring her coronary heart right into a story about romance in her hometown of Lagos.

Love Is A Kingdom notably arrived feature-free, which is smart given its emotional depth and the way in which Tems’ ethereal falsetto holds down many of the instrumentals. Listen to the EP under.

Love Is A Kingdom marked Tems’ first full-length launch since 2024’s Born in the Wild. The 18-song album included collaborations with J. Cole and Asake, in addition to fan favorites like “Love Me JeJe,” “Wickedest” and “Ready.”

“Born in the Wild is a story of transformation from a cocoon to a butterfly. It speaks on surviving mental wilderness and coming to a place where one can thrive,” Tems stated of the album. “It’s about finally accepting oneself and embodying the woman I was born to be. It shows the different dimensions of who I am — from a cub to a lioness.”

As Rap-Up reported on Monday (Nov. 17), Tems can be performing on the inaugural HBCU Aware Fest in March 2026. Billed because the “biggest HBCU fundraiser ever,” different artists on the lineup embrace GloRilla, Metro Boomin, Coco Jones and Jeezy.