Rolling Stone caught up with Teni for the latest episode of On Your Radar.
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00:00 Hello everyone, my name is Teny and this is On Your Radar.
00:04 I started out when I was younger, much, much younger,
00:07 like four or five, and I just really looked up
00:10 to my elder sister, who was also a musician, Nene Ola.
00:13 You know, we used to sing in the house
00:16 and just sing all types of songs and enjoy
00:19 and just have fun in the house, so yes.
00:23 I don't remember the first song that I wrote,
00:25 but I remember my first hit song that I wrote
00:30 for somebody else.
00:31 The song I wrote, "Debido" is like that,
00:33 and I was like, "Whoa, I wrote a song that's a hit.
00:37 "I can write a hit for myself.
00:38 "Let's go."
00:40 And I did it.
00:41 I am from Nigeria, but I'm also a world artist.
00:46 You know, I cannot be categorized into one box.
00:51 You know, yes, I stem from Afro-pop,
00:53 but I also make world music,
00:55 which means that it has no,
00:57 you can't contain it into anything.
01:00 Within the genre, I hope that Tene represents freedom,
01:03 freedom to create, the freedom to express,
01:06 the freedom to break boundaries,
01:08 and the freedom to not be boxed, you know,
01:10 to enjoy the art of it while we're alive,
01:12 to help people heal, to help people cry,
01:15 make love, have fun, enjoy winter, summer,
01:19 all seasons of life, and make music that resonates
01:22 with us in the time that we're living in.
01:24 My favorite track off of "Wonderland"
01:27 has to be the one I wrote about my dad.
01:30 You know, me dropping my first album
01:33 and him not being here to witness it,
01:35 but him still being an inspiration to me,
01:38 has to be my favorite song on "Wonderland."
01:42 It's called "Dad's Song."
01:43 Carrying my dad along with me is such a,
01:46 memories and his legacy along with me,
01:49 my everyday life, is such a driving force
01:51 in how I live my life and how I make music
01:54 and how much I wanna go hard every day,
01:57 how much I wanna stand up and just go,
02:00 knowing that I am his seed
02:04 and I can continue his legacy while making my own legacy.
02:09 I think with "Tears of the Sun,"
02:11 I'm definitely much, much, much more vulnerable.
02:15 As a songwriter, you know, you can create stories
02:18 and you can write your own stories.
02:19 "Tears of the Sun" has more about
02:22 how I truly was feeling,
02:24 who I was, where I am.
02:26 You know, not just writing a story,
02:32 but telling my story and things that are really happening
02:35 around me.
02:36 And that's why "Tears of the Sun" is different.
02:38 I came into "Tears of the Sun"
02:39 just wanting to just express myself.
02:42 It wasn't any continuation from anything.
02:44 It was just telling me, "Where are you right now?
02:46 And what do you wanna sing about?
02:47 What do you wanna tell the world?
02:49 How do you want them to feel how you're feeling right now?"
02:53 Whatever spoke to me, whatever beat
02:56 made me feel a certain type of way
02:58 to say how I was feeling in that moment.
03:01 If I feel some type of way that,
03:03 "Ah, ooh," you know?
03:07 Just say how I'm feeling without caring.
03:09 The beauty of being human is imperfection.
03:12 And imperfection means that there's space to be better
03:16 because with perfection, then there's no better.
03:18 There's no more up, there's no down.
03:21 But that's the beauty of being alive,
03:23 is being happy, being sad, feeling all your emotions,
03:27 you know, and me just being able to express myself that way.
03:31 Say, "Hey, I'm a superstar, but I'm human."
03:33 I feel like the best music comes when you just...
03:36 For me, my best music comes when I'm being myself.
03:42 Not just being myself, when I'm just free
03:44 and just not thinking about anything too much
03:47 or putting in too much thought.
03:49 Maybe later I can go back and, like, you know, clean it up.
03:53 But I make my best music when I'm unconscious.
03:58 Not conscious. Unconscious.
04:00 I just have something in my head and I just start singing.
04:03 And that's when the melodies truly come.
04:05 (whooshing) (clicking)