Tinie Tempah

Born on November 7, 1988, Tempah is the eldest of the four children born to his Nigerian Catholic (Igbo) immigrant parents. His father initially worked as a barber and later became a social worker. His mother was an ‘NHS’ administrator. He grew up with his siblings, Kelly, Kelvin, and Marian. His middle name “Chukwuemeka” means “God has done more” in Igbo. His family lived at the ‘Aylesbury Estate’ in South East London. They moved from Peckham to Plumstead when Tempah was 12 years old. He attended the ‘St. Paul’s Catholic School’ in Abbey Wood. He was academically good and completed his A-Levels in media studies, psychology, and religious studies from ‘St. Francis Xavier Sixth Form College.’

During his teenage years, Tempah, along with other children of his age, aired pirate radio stations at night. He began recording at the age of 14. He decided to adopt the stage name “Tinie Tempah” after browsing through a thesaurus during his school days.

In 2005, he released his first mixtape, ‘Chapter 1: Verse 22,’ through ‘Aftershock Records.’ His songs ‘Tears’ and ‘Wifey’ gained popularity on the music TV channel ‘Channel AKA.’

Working with his cousin and manager, Dumi Oburota, he launched his own label, ‘Disturbing London Records,’ in 2008. Apart from releasing Tempah’s music, they also planned to record with other artistes. Initially, they funded the label by car deals and student loans.

In 2009, he signed a deal with ‘Parlophone Records,’ a subsidiary of ‘Warner Music Group.’ He released his debut single, ‘Pass Out,’ in February 2010. It was produced by Labrinth who also featured in the single. The song topped the ‘UK Singles Chart’ and sold over 92 thousand copies in the first week.

On a promotional European tour for the launch of ‘Sony’s ‘PlayStation Portable,’ he traveled around with noted artistes and performed with ‘Sway’ and ‘Dizzee Rascal.’ In February 2010, he toured with rapper Chipmunk and later performed with Rihanna during her UK tour in May. He also performed at various UK university summer balls.

Tempah’s second single, ‘Frisky,’ was released in June 2010 and reached the second spot on the ‘UK Singles Chart.’ His third single, ‘Written in the Stars,’ featuring Eric Turner, was released on September 19, 2010. The track made it to the number one spot on the ‘UK Singles Chart’ and the 12th spot on the ‘Billboard Hot 100,’ bringing him international success. This proved to be his highest-selling single, with 115 thousand copies, sold in the first week. This number became a theme song for a number of game events. His fourth single, ‘Miami 2 Ibiza,’ was recorded in collaboration with ‘Swedish House Mafia’ and was released in October 2010.

His work includes three studio albums, 23 singles with 8 as a featured artiste, and 32 music videos. Tempah has seven number one singles to his credit, more than any other British artiste in this decade.