Tems’ ‘Born in the Wild’ Bursts Onto U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart

20 June, 2024

Tracks from Tems’ Born in the Wild album light up Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart (dated June 22) as the artist’s genre-crossing debut LP sees its first chart impacts. The set, released on Since ’93/RCA Records, starts with 16,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. for the tracking week of June 7-13, according to Luminate. It opens at No. 5 on the Top R&B Albums chart and No. 56 on the all-genre Billboard 200.

Current Born in the Wild single “Love Me Jeje” moves 4-3 to mark the album’s highest charting track on the streaming and sales-based U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. It’s also the album’s most streamed song this week, with 3.2 million official U.S. streams, up 32% from the previous frame.

“Free Fall,” featuring J. Cole, begins at No. 5 and secures the highest of 11 Born in the Wild debuts. Here’s a full recap of the album’s placements on U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart this week, including two previous releases – the aforementioned “Jeje” and “Me & U” at No. 6, after it peaked at No. 3 last October.

No. 3, “Love Me Jeje”
No. 5, “Free Fall,” featuring J. Cole
No. 6, “Me & U”
No. 12, “Wickedest”
No. 13, “Get It Right,” featuring Asake
No. 15, “Born in the Wild”
No. 16, “Unfortunate”
No. 17, “Gangsta”
No. 20, “Forever”
No. 22, “Hold On”
No. 23, “Turn Me Up”
No. 24, “T-Unit”
No. 25, “You in My Face”

In addition to her own album’s avalanche, Tems claims one more appearance on U.S. Afrobeats Songs through a feature on Tyla’s “No. 1.” The prior No. 5-peaking hit slips 13-18, due to the Born entries.

Born in the Wild is the first full-length offering from Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems. The body of work had been anticipated by fans and music industry insiders since her international breakthrough as a featured artist on Wizkid’s “Essence.” The song, after a remix with Justin Bieber, flew to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021, becoming the first top 10 hit for an Afrobeats genre track. Coveted further features followed, with an assist on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy track “Fountains,” also in 2021, and she and Drake’s guest appearances on Future’s “Wait for U” yielding a No. 1 Hot 100 debut in May 2022.

Around the same time, Tems’ song “Free Mind,” from her 2020 EP From Broken Ears, started to see increased streams, prompting an official radio campaign for the two-year old track. The push led to a huge triumph – “Free Mind” dominated the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for 22 weeks in 2022-23 and ranked as the chart’s No. 1 title on the 2023 year-end recap.