Tinie Tempah took his time doing his third record. Picture: Supplied.
TINIE Tempah gifted almost $10,000 worth of vintage Dom Perignon champagne to women partying at the London nightclub launch of his third record Youth last weekend.
A few nights before that, the 28-year-old British chart-topper wowed a difficult industry crowd at a pre-Brit Awards charity event for War Child.
A player and a philanthropist, Tempah is your classic split pop personality.
The first taste of Youth, single Text From Your Ex, finds his duet partner Tinashe moving onto to her next beau after snooping through his phone. Always a recipe for relationship disaster — but Tempah, aka Patrick Okogwu, insists he's "been a good boy".
"A lot of people have been relating to that song; clearly there are trust issues," he says, chuckling. "With Tinder and Snapchat, the way we communicate is so different.
"Once you hear the whole album, that song will make sense as one aspect of a young South Londoner's life — young men trying to get loads of girls."
English style guru Tinie Tempah clashes patterns and makes hits. Picture: Supplied.Source:Supplied
Tempah is one of the most successful British artists to emerge in the past decade with a string of UK No.1 and Top 10 hits including Pass Out, Written in the Stars, Miami 2 Ibiza, Girls Like, Invincible and Not Letting Go.
His third album Youth has been two years in the making and comes four years after his previous album, Demonstration.
One gets the sense there may have been a bit of a struggle between what he wanted to do and what his label wanted to hear.
The rapper diplomatically acknowledges that "once you sign a record deal, you have other people interested in what you do".
But the delay appears to have been driven more by his own creative ambitions.
"A lot of the artists I look up to have significant growth and change with their third album," he says.
Tempah says the title signals the lyrical concerns of the record, with some of the tracks referencing his youth growing up within an immigrant family in a southeast London council estate.
As the immigration debate divides nations around the world, he says, "this is a sensitive space at the moment".
Tempah doesn't see the world through rose-coloured glasses despite his success. Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty.Source:Getty Images
A self-made man with aspirations beyond pop music into the fashion and event spaces, Tempah says he didn't experience "direct prejudice" growing up. Still, convincing the industry a young black English rapper could make an impact on the charts took some time.
"When people like myself start rapping, it wasn't taken very seriously and I guess it may have been a similar thing in Australia: 'Why are you trying to rap?'" he mimics. "We've come a long way from that view on a global level. But with this record I did think it was important to tell the story of growing up in London and trying to be what I am now.
"Whether or not anyone wants to say otherwise, there are higher odds stacked against you, whether male or female, black or white, when you grow up in that environment because you are seen as an outsider."
While his nice threads have seen him recognised as a style guru in the UK, Tempah has no desire to flaunt his success via the conspicuous consumption of wealth.
It's a very un-rapper attitude, but for every hip hop superstar driving sports cars and dripping in bling, there is another one enjoying a cup of tea at his mum's place and organising catch-ups with old school mates.
"Just before I spoke to you, I caught up with my old friends from secondary school; it's been something I wanted to do for a while," he says.
"My life is very working class; you learn to balance being around your loved ones and doing things that improve your life and the lives of others rather than making it about material things."
HEAR YOUTH (WARNER) OUT MARCH 31
SEE TINIE TEMPAH
QLD: MAX WATTS, SATURDAY, $66.20, MAXWATTS.COM.AU
VIC: PRINCE BANDROOM, TUESDAY, $66.20, PRINCEBANDROOM.COM.AU
NSW: METRO THEATRE, WEDNESDAY, $66.20, METROTHEATRE.COM.AU
Source: www.bing.com
