Tinie Tempah on transcending Grime, big production stage shows, and Britishness as USP.
UK rapper Tinie Tempah is currently on his UK tour promoting his latest album ‘Demonstration’. In an interview with the Irish Times, he talks about having to up the level of his stage shows, when doing arenas, and when an artist gets to his level, their stage show has to be more theatrical, claiming the traditional format of Hip-Hop and Grime of just an MC and DJ won’t cut it.
He talks about always wanting to be as big an artist as possible, not wanting to be boxed in as one particular thing, responding to critics who say he abandoned Grime, he explains that he sees it as him “Transcending Grime”, and is aware of the purist who don’t see what he is doing as being related to the scene, so get a bit miffed when he is mentioned in connection with it.
I think the most interesting thing he talked about in the interview was about embracing Britishness, and understanding that in order for certain things to work in the UK in regards to rap, they have to be adjusted to fit our environment.
Tinie Tempah’s album ‘Demonstration’ is out now!