The emotive track appeared on the singer’s 2025 EP, Love Is a Kingdom
Tems brought an intimate performance of “What You Need” to The Tonight Show last night. Appearing alongside a live band and several backup singers, the Nigerian singer offered an evocative rendition of the emotional ballad, off her most recent EP, Love Is a Kingdom.
“What You Need,” the EP’s debut single, was originally released last fall. It was written and produced by Tems alongside her frequent collaborator, GuiltyBeatz. The track sees Tems declaring her independence from a relationship that isn’t working: “I’m better on my own, you’re better when you’re gone.”
Love Is a Kingdom followed Tems’ 2024 debut album, Born in the Wild. That album arrived six years after Tems dropped her debut single, 2018’s “Mr. Rebel.” She since enjoyed several hits of her own, like 2020’s “Damages” and 2022’s “Free Mind,” and made memorable features on Wizkid’s 2021 smash “Essence” and 2022’s “Wait for U,” with Future and Drake. The singer released her first EP, For Broken Ears, in 2020, then followed it up in 2021 with If Orange Was a Place.
Tems is set to perform at All Points East in London in August. She currently only has two other tour dates announced, both in Bristol, England, in August.