As most women will tell, your early twenties can be some of the liveliest and also some of the hardest times we endure. Coming into our own, as a Black woman, can be full of opinions, harsh remarks, and mean words. However, singer-songwriter TÖME has the prescription and the cure in her music.
Born in Montreal, the Nigerian singer has brought about a new sound and attitude that's unapologetically her. Her position in music is that of confidence. She moves throughout the industry with love on her sleeve and a message of self-acceptance. Strong in her words and work, TÖME speaks from her heart, releasing her deepest secrets to heal her growing heart.
At only 23, the young artist is on her way to becoming a multi-dimensional act. Her latest single "I Pray" which features her childhood hero, Sean Kingston is yet another TÖME original. The song sings of love over hate, an anthem to motivate you to go within, push thru, and be you.
In one of the more honest and open interviews, TÖME breaks down her feelings, her lyrics, and the real reason why she does what she does.
Describe your sound for me because I know we can all interpret it on our own, but what is it that you try to encapsulate when you're creating music?
I like to categorize it as Afro-fusion although I'm not necessarily boxed into that. When you hear my music, the best way for me to say it is primarily soulful. Then to categorize it I'll say Afro-fusion.
What components of yourself are you mixing to build this Afro-fusion sound?
I'm Nigerian and French Canadian. So I grew up, born in Montreal I grew up within the big multicultural community that the Toronto area is. On top of that, I was in the Francophone community, so I was in a full French school up until I graduated high school. So, I would say it's very multicultural in that sense and on top of that. I'm very grateful my dad's been able to bring us back home to Nigeria, quite a few years and around many places as well. I'm well versed in culture generally, and I have a good essence and idea of the world, I'll say that all those things growing up like that, definitely influences the music that I make now.
With you living in Montreal, but visiting and being Nigerian, describe the word ‘home’ in your own context what would it be?
I guess I live the big majority of my life in Brampton, Ontario. So, if I was going to call
home anywhere I guess I call Brampton home, but I don't know I was in school in Mississauga. And then, I don't know, it's hard because honestly I have moved around a lot so it is harder for me to kind of place myself, but for 15 years of my life I lived in Brampton, that was the longest so I’ll say that’s my home.
When you were in Brampton how much of it felt Canadian or how much of it felt Nigerian and how much of it just felt instinctively you?
Never been asked that before. I think for me, probably when I was working in Toronto for a whole year with my dad when we opened up Kiza, that's when I really realized the Nigerian community in Toronto. Growing in the Francophone community there are not French Nigerians you know it's not common. I didn't have that many Nigerian friends nor did I really know how many Nigerians are really here until I graduated college and started working full time in marketing as a marketing executive. That's when I really found out just how big we are here. I think that's really when I started to feel so much happier and more prideful of really who I am and what my culture is. I always knew the Nigerian culture, but I didn't really understand our community, because I didn't see it every day until I did. So, I guess, that would be Toronto in a sense.
What parts of you are you trying to express through your lyricism and music?
The shamelessly confident side of me. I think it's underestimated how relatable we are to one another, and how much we go through ups and downs and we really do all go through it. I always want my music to be something to relate to in life, not just something that is generically common within society but more so personally, similar in all of us. You know, and that's where I like to show the shamelessly confident. When I say shamelessly it's because you should just embrace the flaws that you are. All the opinions that you have about yourself or what you stand for and what your morals, are okay. So, you know feeling sexy, feeling good, feeling good about it. That's why I make music that emphasizes that because it's never a bad thing, but then it's also okay to understand that even if you don't feel accepted, you can keep going on. When you feel like you don’t have the support, I always want you to just understand that I understand you, or do my best to. It’s because I think about that too, so I want to put it into sound, I want to send a message that we can confidently move forward.
Your mantra is “I am enough I am TÖME,” what made that your thing?
I thank God for my dad for calling me Oluwatomi because that's my middle name and that means “God is enough for me” and Töme itself means “enough.” So that was the main reason for me saying, “I am enough I am Töme” because it's also the literal meaning for Töme. But aside from that, I've also always dealt with insecurities, especially growing up. Honestly, at one point, I didn’t think music was the right thing like my voice isn’t special, it’s nothing great. I never thought I was enough. Even so, to this day sometimes I still feel like I'm not enough or I'm not doing enough, constantly! It’s like it's still important to realize that you are you and nobody else can be you, and nobody can stop you but you. You are enough, you don't have to settle. You don't have to be less or more than who you are just be you.
So knowing your music stands for and builds confidence. Knowing your name literally means enough and was given to you before you could fully understand anything at all. How have you been able to fight through the natural parts of life that make us think the opposite of what was written for us?
I can't say I was always looking forward and being positive, I dwelled in it a lot. I dwelled in sadness for a long time. I just looked for little escapes, all those different things to try and feel better but I think that those things were truly what was bringing me down and making me feel worse. Once I started noticing how those things will never bring you happiness, you just need to find comfort with who you are because this is how you were born, there's nothing you can do to change it. What was given to you, let it be a talent, let it be knowledge, let it be whatever it is, it was given to you for a reason. I think I've always looked at it in the sense that I know I'm meant to do something. I don't know what it is but I know I'm meant to do something. I wasn't sure if music was gonna be ‘it’ for me, especially when I was dealing with a lot, dealt with bullying at that time, I really didn't know what was gonna happen. That was the number one thing that kept me going on music, truly, it was music because I put it all into my songs. I put it all into my music, anything I felt, anything. I think that it was just understanding that like, it's okay I've expressed this now. Now I know what it is, I still have to accept who I am.
With that being said, what do you want your art to say about you?
That your possibilities are endless and that when you live in your purpose or when you shamelessly are yourself, then there is power in that. It will resonate with others because I know that the music I'm making the majority of the time, I'm speaking in the truth that I feel, and there's power in that. There's influence in that. It's when you realize that in yourself I definitely feel like when you hear my music or even when you see me act. You can see me exuding the confidence and the truth that I'm living in.
What’s something you would have told the 13-year-old TÖME?
You don't need everyone's acceptance of you. You don't need everyone to like you know. That was probably the only thing I wish I wasn't so keen on. I was so obsessed with just wanting to be liked, wanting to be preferred, or just not rejected in any way, I always wanted acceptance from others. It's not necessary. You don't need to worry about anyone except for you. You just need to love you.
Lastly, if someone were to walk up to you and ask who you were, what’s the first response that comes to mind?
I am TÖME, that’s really it. You gotta look it up sis.
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