The official press portrait of Tems ahead of her performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The look features a shimmering silver mesh silhouette paired with natural curls styled by Ashanti Lation. Photo Credit: The Tonight Show (BTS)/Instagram
We bet you have listened to “What You Need” a countless number of times, it might even be on repeat on your favourite playlist right now, but have you watched Tems perform it live? Because the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon version is something else entirely.
Standing at the microphone with a live band and backup singers behind her, Tems delivered an unhurried, completely assured performance of the track that made the television studio feel far more intimate than it had any right to. No theatrics, no distractions. Just her voice, the song, and a room that went very still for all the right reasons.
The look she arrived in held its own just as well. Styled by Dunsin Wrights, she wore a floor-length white strapless gown with a fitted mermaid silhouette that opened into soft layers of gathered tulle at the hem. The bodice carried a textured, ruffled edge at the neckline, and a dramatic tulle overlay swept across the hip and fell to one side, adding movement without disrupting the clean lines of the dress. Makeup by Kayla Perez and hair by Ashanti Lation rounded it all out — full curls worn loose, balancing the formality of the gown. Everything about it was built for a stage.
Tems delivers a soulful and assured live performance of “What You Need” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Styled by Dunsin Wright, she wore a metallic silver mesh gown with white lace detailing. Photo Credit: The Tonight Show (BTS)/Instagram
“What You Need” was written and produced by Tems alongside her frequent collaborator GuiltyBeatz, and centres on declaring independence from a relationship that simply is not working — “I’m better on my own, you’re better when you’re gone.” It is taken from “Love Is a Kingdom,” her third EP, surprise-released in November 2025 via RCA Records — her first solo release since debut album “Born in the Wild” in 2024.Across seven tracks produced almost entirely by Tems herself, the project moves through love in all its forms — self-love, suspicious love, spiritual love, the love you hold onto and the love you walk away from.
Grammy-winning singer Tems shares a lighthearted moment with Jimmy Fallon during her visit to The Tonight Show to perform her latest single, “What You Need,” from the ‘Love Is a Kingdom’ EP. Photo Credit: The Tonight Show (BTS)/Instagram
If you have not watched it yet, now is your moment.
