What You Need is track 6 on Tems' surprise EP Love Is A Kingdom, released November 21, 2025 under Since '93 and RCA Records. Written and produced by Tems alongside GuiltyBeatz, the track runs 3 minutes 54 seconds. The EP arrived with no prior announcement — Tems dropped it at midnight with a cinematic trailer and gave her audience no warning. It was her first solo project since her 2024 debut album Born In The Wild.
What You Need is one of the EP's most direct emotional confrontations. Afrocritik described it as Tems at her most unrestrained — vulnerable, frustrated, the self-awareness of someone who can see clearly what has gone wrong in a relationship. The lyric "your love is not my lifeline / I am better on my own" captures the moment someone stops trying to save something that was never going to work. Rolling Stone placed it among the EP's standout moments, noting it weaves a sharply honest story about accepting the truth and letting it go. The song sits just before Is There A Reason?, the closing track, giving the listener the emotional reckoning before the spiritual exhale.
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Tems – Is There A Reason (Love Is A Kingdom EP)By November 2025, Tems had won two Grammys, written for Rihanna, featured on Beyoncé's Renaissance, headlined the FIFA Club World Cup halftime show, and joined the ownership group of San Diego FC. Love Is A Kingdom is her stepping back from all of that to record something intimate in the same London studio where Born In The Wild came to life. What You Need is one of the reasons it worked. Rating: 8.5/10.
▶ Listen on Spotify ▶ Full EP on Apple Music
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