Afrobeats sensation, Teni, sits down with Billboard News' Rania Aniftos to discuss the inspiration behind her new album ‘Tears Of The Sun,' what it means to be a Nigerian woman in the music industry, the growth of Afrobeats and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00 ♪ Money can't buy you love ♪
00:02 ♪ Money don't fill this emptiness ♪
00:05 ♪ But I want all the money in the world ♪
00:07 (cheering)
00:09 You did well, good job, good job.
00:11 My name is Tenny, sugar mommy of the whole world,
00:14 and this is Billboard News.
00:16 (upbeat music)
00:18 Hey everybody, it's Rania Niftos with Billboard News,
00:29 and I'm here with Afrobeats superstar, Tenny.
00:32 Ta-da!
00:33 (laughing)
00:34 ♪ I'm going somewhere ♪
00:36 ♪ I'm going somewhere ♪
00:39 ♪ Love, I love, I know deep down ♪
00:41 ♪ He got you out of the one-way ♪
00:43 ♪ He got you out of the one-way ♪
00:45 Afrobeats has been really rising in the US,
00:48 and has been really accepted by American culture
00:51 over the past few years.
00:52 Why do you think that is?
00:54 We're everywhere.
00:56 And the sound is spiritual.
00:57 Afrobeats, Afropop, Afro everything.
01:01 You can't do anything with Afro.
01:02 Yeah.
01:03 The beauty in Afrobeats is the joy,
01:06 but also the pain.
01:08 The music so far has triumphant.
01:11 It's, yeah.
01:12 Everything.
01:13 It's everything.
01:14 ♪ 'Cause everybody goes through pain ♪
01:19 ♪ Everybody cries sometimes ♪
01:22 And I mean, so pain is something that you touch on a lot,
01:25 especially with your album, Tears of the Sun.
01:28 You said that it's a double entendre.
01:30 Tell us a bit about that and the inspiration
01:33 behind balancing the pain with the joy,
01:35 with the highs and the lows.
01:38 For anyone who's ever tasted success,
01:41 they've also tasted pain.
01:42 Pain is a very big recipe for success.
01:46 So I don't run away from it.
01:49 I embrace it.
01:50 I turn it into something positive.
01:52 ♪ Don't be fooled, be burned down ♪
01:53 ♪ One leg, that's my deus ♪
01:55 What song are you most excited
01:57 for people to hear on the album?
01:58 One of the songs is definitely a song I wrote
02:02 from my heart.
02:03 It's like, "Money Don't Buy You Happiness."
02:05 Should I sing it?
02:06 Yes, please do.
02:07 ♪ They say money don't buy you happiness ♪
02:12 ♪ Money can't buy you love ♪
02:15 ♪ Money don't fill this emptiness ♪
02:18 ♪ But I want all the money in the world ♪
02:20 Yes!
02:21 Can you sing that?
02:23 Now I go?
02:23 Yes, you do.
02:25 I can't sing.
02:25 No way, you can do it, you can do it.
02:27 I'll hold your hand.
02:28 I'll hold your hand.
02:28 ♪ Money don't fill this emptiness ♪
02:31 ♪ But I want all the money in the world ♪
02:34 Yay!
02:35 You just keep interviewing people, okay?
02:37 I will.
02:38 Do a sing.
02:38 (laughing)
02:39 Trust me!
02:40 ♪ Don't take it back to now ♪
02:42 ♪ I just wanna show you love ♪
02:44 Since your debut album,
02:46 you've grown quite a bit,
02:48 both spiritually, emotionally, musically.
02:51 Who are you introducing to the world
02:53 with your upcoming albums?
02:54 Here's with the sun.
02:55 I'm introducing a girl that just don't care.
02:58 I love that.
02:59 That's who I'm introducing.
03:01 Growing up in Nigeria, where I grew up,
03:04 we grew up with so much culture, tradition.
03:07 You must respect your elders,
03:08 you must do this, you must do that.
03:10 And some of it is right,
03:12 some of it is wrong.
03:14 Some times have changed.
03:16 I've learned as a woman,
03:19 coming from where I'm coming from,
03:21 to be able to express myself,
03:23 to be able to say how I feel,
03:26 to nobody telling me,
03:27 you're a woman and this is where you belong,
03:29 or this is what you can do,
03:31 or this is how you should dress.
03:32 I do what I want, how I want it,
03:35 because the calling is on me.
03:37 If I can't be myself,
03:39 how am I going to deliver the message?
03:41 Wow.
03:42 How am I going to be happy?
03:43 So I, on this album, just said,
03:46 can I say that?
03:47 Yeah.
03:48 I said, fuck this.
03:49 I'm gonna do me.
03:51 Even if it's one person that gets what I'm saying,
03:54 that's a win for me.
03:56 ♪ It's all love ♪
03:58 ♪ All love, brother, yeah, it's all love ♪
04:00 - You were so wonderful.
04:02 I had the best time speaking with you today.
04:05 Thank you so much.
04:05 - Thank you.
04:06 I like to do a, hi,
04:07 I like to do a presenter.
04:09 Hi, my name is Tanya.
04:10 - Oh, you're about to do--
04:11 - Sitting on the couch with Billboard.
04:12 - Yes.
04:13 - And we are wrapping it up.
04:14 Expect the album, Tears of the Sun, coming soon.
04:19 Thank you very much.
04:20 How do I do as a presenter?
04:23 (clapping)
04:24 - There you go.
04:25 (upbeat music)
04:27 (whooshing)