“Essence” by Wizkid (ft. Tems)

The title of this piece is based on the age-old “time is of the essence”, which actually appears in the first verse. And to some degree the song does center on the idea of Wizkid trying to expeditiously get with the apple of his eye, who in this case is portrayed by Tems. But for the most part what the lyrics are actually about, from his perspective, is simply being in love with said addressee, to his surprise actually, considering for instance that he “tried to leave but… cant”. 

Wiz has come to realize that she is “the one” but “don’t know why” such is verily the case. And while such assertions may not read like the most-romantic of  wording, the bottom line is that they are. They are illustrative of the fact that he has become smitten, largely from a sexual standpoint as revealed in the second verse, despite apparently not necessarily having any expectations heading into this relationship.

Meanwhile, Tems is basically assuring him that yes, she is in fact the one. Therefore, there’s no need for him to go out shopping for other chicks. Or stated otherwise, she is more than happy to be his long-term boo boo now that he is in fact whipped.

In Conclusion

So reading in between lines, Essence is actually a celebration of spontaneous love, if you will. Wizkid and Tems may not rely on the type of lyrical intricacies that highlight such love-at-first-sight songs composed out west. 

In fact Tems in particular sort of made her contributions on-the-fly. But so it is with Afrobeats sometimes, i.e. the songs being more direct-to-life, if you will, than Western pop music. In other words yes, sometimes a man (or woman) can find himself thoroughly smitten after a good, sound bonking or two.

Facts about “Essence”

“Essence” is by Wizkid, an artist who is well-known in West Africa and to a lesser degree in the UK, being that he’s from Nigeria. Wiz specializes in a genre of music called Afrobeats which in and of itself has been becoming increasingly popular, on a global scale, as of late. 

And he has been one of the main beneficiaries of its globalization, having for instance been featured on Drake’s 2016 hit song “One Dance” and on Beyoncé’s 2019 piece “Brown Skin Girl“, the latter of which earned him a (video-related) Grammy Award.

And “Essence” can be added to his list of groundbreaking hits. For instance, it topped Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales listing and the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart. It also peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 stateside. And in doing so, this currently marks the highest a Nigerian artist has ever reached on the US Hot 100.

Tems is also a singer from Naija, boasting of her own Drake collaboration, a track called Foundations. The said track is actually featured on “Certified Lover Boy”, which came out in early September 2021.

Meanwhile “Essence” was officially released on 29 October 2020. It is part of “Made in Lagos”, i.e. Wizkid’s fourth album. And its labels are RCA Records as well as one Wizkid founded himself in 2013, Starboy Entertainment.

This track also earned the distinction of being labeled “the most Shazamed song in the US” at the end of August, 2021. Simply put, it was “the song of the summer” of that year stateside.

Some More Facts!

The popularly of this tune was buttressed by a remix of “Essence” featuring none other than the Biebs himself. In fact it was said remix that actually performed on the Billboard Hot 100 as noted above. And to note, the Biebs’ version is featured on the deluxe edition of “Made in Lagos”.

This is the first track Wizkid ever dropped with Tems. The former, being 31 years of age as of the writing of this post, boasts a discography that dates back to 2008. And that latter, at 26 years old, started officially dropping tracks in 2018.

This song was produced by Legendury Beatz, a regular collaborator of Wizkid’s, with later contributions by P2J.  And the credited writers are Wizkid and Tems.

The music video to this track was not filmed in Nigeria but in nearby Ghana, in the Gateway to Africa’s capital city of Accra. And it was directed by an artist known as DK.

Although this song is rendered in patois or what some may call pidgin English, the intro is in a completely different language, that being Yoruba, which is indigenous to West Africa.

To note, there is also another remix of this song featuring decades’ long Wu-Tang brethren Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the Chef.