Fat Joe said of all the songs he listened to in 2022, the best of them all came from Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer Tems with her breakthrough hit, “Free Mind.”
The NYC icon hopped on Instagram Live this weekend with a 2022 year-end recap and began the session with “Free Mind” playing in the background.
“It’s the biggest in the game,” he stated before adding, “I played this because to me, this is the song of the year.
Fat Joe continued, nodding his head to the soulful melody, “Song of the Year to me, I don’t know about you.” Watch Fat Joe’s IG Live here and check out his Song of the Year video below.
Tems – Free Mind
While the track may be Fat Joe’s favorite song of 2022, Tems released “Free Mind,” back in September 2020. The track featured on her debut EP, For Broken Ears, but began to make an impact earlier this year.
The slow and steady build paid off, as “Free Mind” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay after a 33 week long climb. According to Billboard, the feat is “the second-longest climb to the summit in the chart’s 30-year history.”
Tems launched into the mainstream after featuring on Wizkid’s smash hit “Essence,” earning her a Grammy nomination. She gained another two Grammy nods with her appearance on Future’s “Wait for U,” alongside Drake.
She also hit the headlines in October after co-writing Rihanna’s comeback single “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever original soundtrack.
Gracing the cover of Dazed recently, Tems revealed she hopes to usher in a new image of the African woman. Despite her empowering message, some fans pushed back against the raunchy shoot, prompting Tems to clarify, “I am not your Christian savior.”