The latest episode of NFTR features one of the most successful British artists of the decade. In fact he is an artist who has earned seven number ones in the UK singles chart, successfully collaborated with established artists from around the world and is also doing his utmost to nurture the new generation of UK artists. Enter Tinie Tempah. As expected, Posty and Vis discuss many topics ranging from the millions of records sold, beef and much more. Here are our 11 interesting things we learned from the in-depth interview.
1. He lives in Alexander McQueen’s former home
What immediately strikes you of this interview is this NFTR episode is filmed in Tinie’s own home, formally owned by the late British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen. Tinie reveals that this is the first home he purchased and a deciding factor was the interior design, from the ostrich leather sofa to the stuffed giraffe! Tinie assures us in the interview that the animals all died of natural causes and it makes him feel closer to his African roots.
2. The humble beginnings of his music career
As with many artists of our generation, Tinie was inspired by garage music, particularly Oxide and Neutrino, and So Solid Crew and began spitting in secondary school. In fact, for the video of “Wifey Riddim”, he stacked £800 from a job at a call centre for a double glazing firm, and spent it on production and shooting the video.
3. Beef
Beef was always going to be a brought up, especially in a NFTR interview. Tinie broke down significant moments such as when he first potentially thought Chip threw a shot at him on the “Game Over” track which they both featured on. Chip raps, “underdogs are barking up, shh hush puppy…I was best new comer err time ago”. This could be deemed a shot a Tinie as significantly, Tinie was just nominated by the MOBOs for best newcomer. Take what you want from it.
4. The significance of his first deal and Disturbing London
When Tinie signed his first deal with Parlophone Records, it is was ground-breaking for an urban artist from the UK to not sign directly to a label, rather to sign his own label, Disturbing London, to Parlophone Records. Disturbing London would then licence the records to Parlophone, providing them with greater creative freedom. Dumi Oburota, Tinie Tempah’s manager who engineered the deal, details in the interview he achieved this because they had built themselves such a strong foundation where they were already performing shows, they had their own studio and offices, and therefore didn’t need the label to accommodate such facilities.
5. Freedom of creativity is key to his zen
Throughout this interview, Tinie exudes a man who is confident, assured and at peace within himself, and explains that his personal wellbeing is down to him finding his zen. As a matter of fact, he goes on to explain that he has found his zen through a few elements, one of which being, the ability to exhibit his creativity through his own music and fashion without anybody impeding on him.
6. His proudest collaboration is with Kelly Rowland
Tinie has collaborated with some of the biggest artists of our generation from Ty Dolla $ign, WizKid, Swedish House Mafia, J Cole and 2 Chainz. However, he revealed that the most meaningful collaboration is with Kelly Rowland. It’s worth noting that he understandably took his time to decide due to the calibre of artists he has worked with. The deciding factor was how she was a member of arguably one of the world’s biggest girl groups, Destiny’s Child, and was a fantastic artist in her own right.
7. He attributes much of his success to his faith
Throughout the interview, Tinie Tempah acknowledges his success is down to God and how his spiritual relationship provides him with focus and a belief that anything he sets his mind to, he can achieve.
8. Details of his success after “Pass Out”
“Pass Out” is acknowledged as Tinie’s most important single, especially as it was his first number one single and opened the door to him signing his deal. Yet, he shares how there weren’t many changes to his immediate life once it went to number one; he still lived at home with his mum and had an outstanding congestion charge bill. However, he had now caught the attention of the masses where he was performing at festivals and invited to more TV and Radio. The game changer for him was “Written in the Stars” which was used by Sky Sports football coverage and even on Wrestlemainia.
9. The craziest gift he has ever received was from AP’s CEO
Tinie reveals that the craziest gift he’s received is from his friend and CEO of Audermars Piguet, Francois-Henry Bennahmias, who presented him with 2,500 roses in a nightclub. In fact, in the interview, Tinie also reveals he is ready to put pen to paper with a deal with AP where he will become a brand ambassador.
10. Making Youth
He started the album in 2015 and broke down the process of creating the album from deciding on the name to the features. The inspiration behind the name derives from Tinie’s yearning to nurture the next generation of artists we have in the United Kingdom and believes this project is the key to achieving this. In terms of features, he wanted the core of artists and producers to be British and on the come up.
11. Style and fashion
When you think of Tinie Tempah, his music and style collectively come to thought. He is impeccably dressed and is proud of the elevation of his style. He notes the inspiration behind his love of fashion stems from a child, where his mother who at the time, worked two jobs but would also sold clothing, of whom he would help her to sell.