Senzo Mfundo Vilakazi

Tems’ debut album makes Billboard’s Best R&B Albums of 2024 list

Billboard has shared its list of best R&B albums of 2024, with Nigeria’s Tems occupying the second position for her debut ‘Born in the Wild’ while ‘Mutt’, the second studio album by American musician and actor Leon Thomas, released on 27 September placed first. Other entries on the list include Chris Brown’s 11:11 (Deluxe), which occupies the 10th position; Bryson Tiller’s eponymous album placed ninth; Marsha Ambrosius’s Casablanco is eighth; and Laila!’s Gap Year! is seventh. Others are NxWorries’s ‘Why Lawd?’ occupying the sixth position, PARTYNEXTDOOR’s PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 at number five, Muni Long’s Revenge is number four, and Ravyn Lenae’s Bird’s Eye is number three. Tems’ debut album, released in June 2024 via RCA Records/Since ’93, featured collaborations with Afrobeats star Asake and US rapper J. Cole. Reviewing the album, PREMIUM TIMES described it as a ‘‘confident debut that cements her place in the global music scene, reaffirming her roots and influences’’.