Vancouver-based rapper Temia exudes confidence.

It runs through her fierce delivery and easy flow—qualities heard on songs like “Different” and “Crxwn Freestyle” that have helped establish her as one of the most exciting rising stars in Canadian rap music. But with her latest single “Mini”, the artist shows another side of herself as she unapologetically holds her ground in the face of a toxic relationship.

At first she’s vulnerable, begging for honesty from a deceitful partner: “I see you trying to hurt my feelings,” she raps on “Mini”. Then, over a rolling beat, her dominance takes over—“I can never let all that shit faze me”—as she declares, “Eyes up here/I’m captivating.”

The lines are personal, Temia says, and were inspired by a situation in which she felt manipulated and taken advantage of. Instead of focusing her energy on the partner in question, though, she reframed the narrative to centre on herself.

“It won’t knock me down,” she says now, describing her attitude. “I feel exactly the same way as when I met you; I’m going to feel great when I leave.”

“Mini” debuts on June 19 and is part of a new EP that features the track in three different versions, sped up and slowed down to further emphasize the point.

“I feel like it gives people an opportunity to really hear what I’m saying,” Temia explains via phone, “and feel the lyrics and understand why I was writing this.”

She hopes that “Mini”—any iteration of it—also serves to empower the listener as much as it does her: “Having those feelings of, ‘No, actually, I am the shit. I am that girl.’”

In a shift from the UK drill sound of stuttering hi-hats and moody melodies that she’s become known for, “Mini” is Temia’s first Afro-pop release. With this single, she delivers the same hard-hitting vibe through a vibrant blend of rhythms and rippling strings. Being Nigerian, she notes, Afro-pop is one of her favourite genres—plus, she really just loves to dance.

“And this song, just the beat—when I first heard it, I was like, ‘This is it,’ ” she muses. “‘This is the song that I need to put something down on.’ ”

This past March, Temia won the Elevate Music Project: a local competition that supports Vancouver’s emerging artists. The experience gave her the artistic development she needed at the time, with opportunities for live instrumentation, production design, and backup dancers.

“I think because I enjoyed the process so thoroughly,” she reflects, “anybody could have won that night and I still would have felt as elated and joyful.”

While she moved with her family to Calgary in 2013, and then to the West Coast in 2015, Temia grew up in South London, where she participated in the music program at St. Andrew’s Church of England High School. She credits the school with helping her realize her love for music and what it could offer her.

“I think through music, I learned to have balance,” she says. “Being confident doesn’t necessarily have to be synonymous with being mean or being a bitch. It’s not like you have to choose one or the other. You can be a ray of sunshine and you can be lovely and you can still be confident and set boundaries and put yourself first.”

Temia holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, which lends a unique insight to the emotion that comes through her songwriting. And she’s ready to bring all of it with her to the stage at Westward Music Festival, where she’s performing this month.

“Being able to have a thought—whether it’s with music or with an essay or anything—and being able to put it on paper,” she says, “and then deliver it to other people, is a very beautiful process for me.”

Temia performs at Westward Music Festival at Vogue Theatre on June 23.