The Tempah Rap: Interview with Tinie Tempah

Since the first time Tinie Tempah’s plane arrived Down Under, and on each visit thereafter, he’s had a daydream which, he says, helps keep him sane. “I think, ‘If I just run right now, just make a break for it right out of the gate, no one will ever see me again.’”

The 25-year-old grime fighter turned chart star laughs as he recalls it, but notes that it's something he still contemplates. He’s enjoying his career, revelling in the limelight, but wouldn’t mind losing the flipside of fame. Even if it’s a mental escape for a few seconds as he stands on hot airport tarmac.

“I always toy around with the idea whenever I get somewhere tropical,” the Londoner says. “’Hmmm, I really could throw it all in and just stop here.’”

Interestingly – particularly for any ladies in his life – he then ventures: “It’s obviously like that with commitment on any level, isn’t it?”

Don’t worry, though, he’s sticking around.

“I must emphasise the fact that I love it. Everybody that has come into my life because of the vocation I’ve decided to take, any fan, any journalist, I’ve always loved and enjoyed the experience of it. It’s been life-changing. But there are many aspects of it where you’re giving your life to people. You really are. You’re up for criticism and scrutiny, down to everything from what you wear to how your music sounds. To… who you date. Your private life is something which people take a keen interest in. It’s little things like protecting your loved ones, protecting your home. Things you never really think about when you think, ‘I want to be this star.’”

He can like it, love it or lump, but these days Tinie Tempah is a bonafide celeb. At the time of writing he’s just bagged yet another number one single over there with ‘Tsunami (Jump)’ while debut LP Disc-Overy and follow-up Demonstration entered the albums chart at numbers one and three respectively.

Apart from number crunching, we can quantify his current status with things like performing his debut single ‘Pass Out’ with Snoop Dogg on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage and his big name collaborations in studio and stage in general (Ellie Goulding, Kelly Rowland, Calvin Harris, Jessie J etc…), as well as the ubiquity of signature tune ‘Written In The Stars’, which has been used to herald both Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage and the New York Giants’ entrance at Super Bowl XLVI.

Add his big personality and it all means Tempah is pretty inescapable. For the man born Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, it means the press are. So there’s probably truth in his claims that the only place in Britain where people don’t bother him is on a Tesco aisle in the middle of the night.

“Well, yeah!” he concedes. “But if I say that about Tesco enough times then soon, slowly but surely, that won’t be my place of refuge anymore! I’m trying to figure it out. It’s been almost five years (of fame) and things have been great, people have been great. I hope what we’re contributing is great and we’re leaving a good impression on people. That I’m an enjoyable personality to have around. I’m up for it every single step of the way.”

The latest step has been to hit the gym pre-interview, where he says he’s been doing “a little bit of bodybuilding.”

Tempah’s getting match fit for the delayed Demonstration tour which will now roll into Dublin’s O2 on April 9. A few days prior, he’d been sparring with former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye.

Hard work (and extremely daunting, for fans of not getting hit in the face), of course, but about that was a mere continuation of the rapper rubbing shoulders with celebrity names.

At the BAFTA Awards in February, he opened the show with Laura Mvula and ended up afterwards being pictured sandwiched between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. It must be said, a tuxedoed Tempah must definitely out-dappered Benjamin Unbuttoned.

“Haha, thank you very much! Yeah, that was mad. There’s a film producer that I know really well who’s a mutual friend. After the awards was really good because people were impressed by the performance, it seems. So everyone had nothing but good things to say and that was the basis on which I met a lot of people.”

Not the only way he met people. Another method was employed during the actual performance itself (a rowdy rendition of his “James Bond theme” ‘Heroes’ which he says he’ll “never forget”).

Making his way past the front row as he rapped, Tempah spotted Wee Willy Windsor, the Duke Of Cambridge, and promptly offered up a high five. To the relief of everyone, Prince William reciprocated with a smile on his face. Was Tempah not momentarily worried he was about to be rugby tackled by a member of MI5?

“I think people started planting that idea into my head after, I never thought… It was a spur of the moment thing and it felt right. Sometimes moments like that happen and you shouldn’t question it, just go with it.”

Plus, it wasn’t their first meeting. Tinie Tempah apparently gets on quite well with William and his brother Harry.

“As well as you can really get on with the future King Of Britain, y’know?! Just them as royalty, I really admire the way that they are with people. I like the way that they’re almost trying to revolutionise the traditional ways. Even Prince Charles as well. There’s two charities that they run. There’s Centrepoint, which is a charity for homeless people, and The Prince’s Trust, the two of which I’m involved with. In the few times I’ve been able to see them, they’re nice. Pleasant. They’re quite warm, y’know? They make people feel comfortable. William’s been to a show once before as well, and that was pretty cool.”

He can only be thankful that William didn’t catch one particular line in ‘Don’t Sell Out’, in which Tinie asks: “Are my jeans still saggy like the Queen?” It is his grandmother the MC’s portraying in an unfavourable light via the medium of rap.

“Yeah, no, I’m very careful there! Now you mention it… it could have been worse!”

It’s a line that could sum up Tempah’s outlook in life (no, not the line about Elizabeth’s saggy bits). I’m struck by an old quote from the artist, where he talks about his love for London. He says it’s one of the only places where you can live in a council block and see a beautiful semi-detached house across the street. Rather than having a chip on his shoulder growing up on the notorious Aylesbury Estate, he says it helped to inspire and motivate him.

“That’s a very important thing,” he nods. “I’ve been fortunate to grow up in a place where it seems like there’s possibilities, regardless of your circumstances. I know people have it bad but I live in a country where if we don’t have income there’s a benefit system. Free health care. There’s so many places in the world that are way, way, way more worse off. So when I look at it like that, I do definitely feel that yes, you have to dream. You have to dream big. I think if you just ask questions in life, that’s half the battle. That’s what I started doing early on. How can I get from this house, to that house? What do I have to do? What kind of work do I need to do, what effort do I need to put in? Just things like that, y’know?”

In that way, he’s something of a poster boy for a confident British music scene that’s risen creatively as the economy falls. If you look at London artists today, they’re not looking to America but innovating at home, exciting home crowds. In that small way, it feels like a new wave of Britpop, but without it being only about white guitar bands this time.

“It’s everyone from Tinie Tempah to Adele to One Direction, that’s what’s exciting about it to me,” says Tempah. “There’s no real specific genre that’s leading the revolution, it’s just British artists. And I’m very, very honoured – chuffed – to be considered part of that list. It’s a bit of a crazy time. But I think at crazy times like this, where things are very difficult in pretty much every industry, that’s when things have got the opportunity to shine. To flourish. I definitely feel like social networking and all the things that people say have been a hindrance, changing the way we listen to music, has created a time in which artists like myself have been able to thrive. Things are good. I can’t really complain. I just wanna do more.”

Tinie Tempah plays The O2, Dublin on April 9