Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988),better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is an English rapper. He made his first mixtape in 2007 with 28 songs, freestyles and remixes, the album features Mz Bratt, Chipmunk and G-Unit. His first album, Disc-Overy, debuted at number one on 10 October 2010 and was preceded by the number-one singles "Pass Out" and "Written in the Stars"and the UK Top 5 hits "Frisky" and "Miami 2 Ibiza".
In 2006, Tinie gained a great deal of airplay on British music TV channel, Channel AKA, for his song "Tears" and then in late 2007, Tinie Tempah collaborated on a track with grime artist Ultra and producers/songwriters Agent X. The song was titled "Perfect GCD Hood Economics Room 147". He toured with Chipmunk in February 2010.
His first break as a musician came when Sony launched its PlayStation Portable (PSP) and used a track entitled "Listen To The Vibe" featuring Yasmin and DJ Ironik, and "Atlantic/Warner" for the futuristic racing game, Wipeout Pure. This resulted in a promotional European tour alongside the likes of Sway and Dizzee Rascal.
Tinie and his manager and cousin Dumi Oburota founded the independent label Disturbing London primarily as an official outlet for Tinie's music, but with the idea of also signing other young artists. According to Dumi: "We wanted to have a platform to put out our music and there wasn't any Def Jam or Roc-A-Fella label equivalent in England. [Also] I wanted to create a major independent label with quality artists. I felt like the major labels had lost the passion for music."The activities of the label were initially largely funded by student loans and the proceeds from buying and selling cars.
When scout and music consultant Jade Richardson saw Tinie performing at the 2009 Wireless Festival she called Parlophone Records president Miles Leonard saying: “You’ve got to check out this guy Tinie Tempah. He came on at lunchtime and there’s about 1,000 kids screaming for him. He’s only put out one independent release and he’s got this huge audience.”
Leonard and A&R Nathan Thompson visited Tinie and his manager Dumi at their studio a few weeks later and were hugely impressed to hear about the work they had already done in developing Tinie's career and by the ambitious plans they had for his future. Leonard told HitQuarters: "I thought it was incredible that an artist and manager were doing so much so soon with so little ... That impressed as much as the music."
Tinie announced his signing to Parlophone in October 2009 by running a competition on his blog, with the winner invited to High Tea at Claridges to celebrate the deal.
Tinie released his debut single "Pass Out" with Parlophone on 28 February 2010, with it entering the UK Singles Chart at number 1. Selling just over 92,000 copies, making this his first number 1 which it remained for two consecutive weeks. Tinie would later perform "Pass Out" on 25 June 2010 at Glastonbury on the Pyramid stage with Snoop Dogg. Tinie then announced his second single, "Frisky", which was released on 6 June 2010 entering the UK Singles Chart at number 2.
Tinie supported Rihanna for four dates in May on her 10-date UK tour with Tinchy Stryder and Pixie Lott.Tinie performed at many summer balls at various universities around the United Kingdom. Tinie performed at Radio 1 Big Weekend in Bangor on 22 May 2010 on the In New Music We Trust stage.
He also toured with Mr Hudson in May 2010. Tinie Tempah played the Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium on 6 June 2010, at Wakestock in Abersoch on 3 July 2010, both T4 on the Beach and the Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park on 4 July, and V Festival on 21 and 22 August 2010. Tinie released his third single "Written in the Stars" on 19 September 2010. This again charted at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart selling over 115,000 copies in its first week, making it his biggest-selling single to date. The song also went on to chart in a number of other countries. Tinie went on to team up with Swedish House Mafia for his fourth single "Miami 2 Ibiza" which was released on 1 October 2010.
This went on to reach a peak of number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and his first number 1 in the Netherlands Mega Single Top 100 chart. He released his long-awaited debut album, Disc-Overy on 4 October 2010 which featured all his previous charted singles.
On 11 October 2010, he kicked off his first UK tour which was supported by Chiddy Bang. He went on to win his first 2 MOBO Awards in October. Tinie also featured on the Tinchy Stryder single "Game Over" which was released on 15 November 2010. This reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. On 25 December, Tinie released his fifth single "Invincible" featuring Kelly Rowland, which peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. "Wonderman", featuring Ellie Goulding, was released and was the fifth official single. Tinie joined Usher on the European leg of his OMG Tour in January 2011.
Tinie was also nominated for 4 Brit Awards making him the most nominated artist at the awards. His single "Written in the Stars" was used for a WrestleMania XXVII countdown promo during the WWE PPV Royal Rumble on 30 January 2011. It was later confirmed by WWE that it will be the official theme for Wrestlemania XXVII. It's also the theme song for the 2011 MLB Post Season. On 15 February 2011, he won his first ever Brit Award, for Best British Breakthrough Act. He also won a Brit for Best British Single.
On 7 March 2011, Tempah expressed his desire for his next album to go triple platinum. "I reckon in 2011, towards the end of it, I'm going to do an arena tour – and sell it out – then I reckon I'm going to release another album, and fingers crossed it can go platinum again, and double platinum, and triple. Let's just sell a million."
In December 2010, Tinie confirmed he is writing a second album, saying there will be a more electronic and live feel to it. It is not yet known what the title will be. Originally intended for a late 2011 release, it is now expected to be released in April 2012.
During an interview, Tinie commented on his second album: "Yeah I’ve started it already so I’m hoping to get it out by October/November time. I always like to work with different people on each project I do, just so you get a different sound and angle. I will be working with some of the same people I did for the first album, you know what they say ‘if it ain't broke then don’t try and fix it’."
According to a recent interview Tinie revealed his hopes of collaborating with some of music's hottest artists saying, "I really want to collaborate with Toronto's very own Drake. I think he's amazing at what he does. I'd also like to collaborate with Adele, Sleigh Bells, Lykke Li, Dev, James Blake ― those are the few that I'd really like to work with." Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single is to be called "Till I'm Gone" which will feature Wiz Khalifa and is produced by Stargate.
The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011. Tinie Tempah, world renowned drummer Travis Barker and Irish boxing champion Katie Taylor, joined forces to launch Lucozade’s new Yes Campaign, which signals a repositioning of its sports and energy drink brand. Featuring a performance of Tinie's "Simply Unstoppable" with Travis Barker on drums, remixed especially for Lucozade Sport, the campaign was released in Summer 2011.
