Tems’ “No Woman, No Cry” Comes With A Greater Light

Following the sequel to Marvel Studios’ afro-futuristic film Black Panther, the Nigerian fast-rising diva Tems had the opportunity to remake Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “No Woman No Cry”. One of the songs contained in the three-song EP created for the film’s prologue.

The EP also features the Ghanaian rising-star Amaarae and Santa Fe Klan, alongside Tems, a trio project put together for the Wakanda Forever Prologue. But Tems’ cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry,” a genuine classic that captures both the spirit of Africa’s resiliency and the fortitude of femininity from a deeper perspective, does inspire a vivid glimpse of the hope that Bob Marley envisioned in his work.

The song opens with a sharp suspense theme that ushers immediately, Tems’ butter-melting voice. Her voice glides and solidifies into an amulet of time and space that swings between the past and future. It confirms its quest when it drops the message from our African ancestor Bob Marley, as she sings, “I remember when we used to sit/In the government yard in Trenchtown,” in the beginning verse.

Her lucid, soulful voice holds a lamp into our (African) history and soothes every broken piece when she melancholy belts, “No, woman, no cry,” deep into the bridge. Of course, Tems is not the only artiste to cover Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”.

But this Black Panther project produced by Ludwig Göransson on Tem’s audacious pop vocals spans generations so that this new era can enjoy and reflect on the relic prophecy from one of the world’s greatest songs ever written.

Tems is eventually an envoy sent to rekindle our minds in this song. It is contingent to say she has the blessings of the spirits to anchor the rendition after winning this year’s BET Award for Best International Act.