The Tinchy Stryder story feels like a rainy British re-run of the 50 Cent biography. The big difference being that while Curtis ‘Fiddy’ Jackson was selling crack at the age of 12 in Queens, Kwasi ‘Tinchy’ Danquah was attending a Catholic comprehensive in Newham in East London.

Born in Ghana, the pint-sized (hence the name) rapper crept up on the underground scene working with bezzie mate Dizzee Rascal. This year, he balanced scoring number ones with trying to score a BA in Moving Image and Animation at the University of East London.
“I didn’t finish it properly ‘cause I was on tour and there was a couple of modules I didn’t get to,” Stryder says. “It’ll come in handy with things like the media and making videos and the technical side of things. When I do a video now, I understand exactly why that lighting might be there and every reason for everything.”
You can’t blame the 22-year-old for having a back-up plan. His 2007 debut, the disappointing Star In The Hood, failed to produce one charting song.
On the other hand, sophomore effort Catch 22 (geddit?) has proved a huge smash, yielding two big fat number one singles. What does Stryder reckon is behind this sudden turnaround?
“My whole sound is more developed. I’ve been through more with Catch 22 so I’ve more to talk about. I’d say it’s more of an insight into the last couple of years of my life.”
Catch 22 boasts some pretty predictable collaborations (it’s no surprise to see Taio Cruz, Dappy of N-Dubz and Chipmunk on there). These are balanced with a few unexpected turns on the production credits, not least with ‘First Place’ on which electro favourite Frankmusik soaks the young rapper’s rhymes in synths.
“That’s one of my favourite tracks on the album,” Stryder beams. “It was good working with him, ‘cause obviously it’s different to what I do. Working with him is like meeting half-way.”
Racking up more chart toppers than Jay-Z has had comeback albums, presumably Tinchy will be able to pick and choose his musical colleagues from now on. Who’s on the wish-list?
“There’s loads of people,” he enthuses. “It’s always the thing of the right track brings the right collaborator. If I had to pick someone now, it’d be Kanye West.”
Tinchy’s a huge star in Ireland too – to his evident surprise.
“When I went to number one in Ireland, like... I didn’t think I had that much love out there!”
Better get used to it, Tinchy.