Nigerian songstress Tiwa Savage returns to the music space with the biggest collaboration of her career as she teams up with Sam Smith for her new banger ‘Temptation’. The track serves as the fourth single off Tiwa’s upcoming album ‘Celia’ which drops worldwide on August 24.
In a new interview with Apple Music, Tiwa details the recording process saying “When I walked in, because we had a recording session with… We had nine rooms in a hotel and I had different pieces of writing, and I walked into this particular room and I heard this record, and I heard the chorus, and I was just like, “This song is so special.” I sat with it for days just trying to get the perfect topline,” Tiwa says.
She adds that she knew someone like Sam Smith would take the song to the next level. “My label asked ‘Which songs do you want to do a feature on?’ And I said, ‘There is this one song that I hear an artist on,’ and they were like, ‘Who is it?” I’m like, “I hear Sam Smith.’ But I know that’s never going to happen. So, that’s it. We just walked away from it. I promise you, I wasn’t even thinking that anything was going to happen. Literally, I think maybe six months later, my manager calls me and my manager’s like, “Sam is going to do the record.” I said, “Sam who? What are you talking about?” Even still, I was just like, no, this is impossible. Five days later, she calls me and she pulls a Khaled on me. She says, “The vocals are in.” I opened my email, I heard it, and I literally had goosebumps, because we don’t know how amazing Sam is.”
Sam currently has a single with Burna Boy, another African giant, titled ‘My Oasis’ which is also making waves around the world.
Tiwa adds that the song is incredibly special to her because it puts the afrobeat genre on full display on a global scale and she is proud to see the genre blowing up internationally. “I’m so grateful, not just for that record, but what this means for my genre and the movement that we’re pushing.I was having this conversation with my mom the other day, and I said to her, when she moved me to London, I was bullied so much for being African. I used to try and change my accent, and pretend like I wasn’t African. And it wasn’t cool,” Tiwa admits.
“And now being African is one of the coolest things, and afrobeat is the fastest growing genre. And for me, it’s a blessing to live and witness both, to see how it went from not being cool, to being one of the most sought after genres. And not just that, the music is shining a different light on the continent. Africa, we have to rewrite our story. I think it’s been written in so many different ways. And so many people have the wrong impression of Africa. And now having huge legends like Beyonce doing a movement such as Black is King, and shining just a different light on my continent, it’s just amazing.”
Named after her mother, Celia showcases Savage’s extraordinary vocal talent and the incredible musical growth she’s experienced over the years. Born in Lagos, she grew up attending church with her parents and soon developed a love for performing, then relocated to London with her family at the age of 11. At the age of 16, she found herself singing backing vocals for George Michael — a turn of events that quickly led to working with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Emma Bunton, and Blu Cantrell.
Listen to ‘Temptation’ here:
