Tinie Tempah interview

Aliena: How are you doing tonight?

Tinie Tempah: I’m very well thank you, happy to be here. How are you?

Aliena: I’m very good thank you. Are you excited for tonight? It’s a sold out show.

Tinie: Yeah, very excited man. I was happy when Newcastle sold out, because it’s one of my favourite cities in the country and I always have a great time here, so it’s nice to finally bring my show up here and you know, bring the album to life with the live band and just hope everybody enjoys it tonight.

Aliena: Have you performed here before?

Tinie: I’ve performed here a few times actually, but mostly like in clubs and stuff like that, I was meant to be here with Mr. Hudson on his last tour, however the date got cancelled, so yeah you know this is the first time I’ve been here with a live band and so it should be fun.

Aliena: That’s pretty cool. I have to say I’m pretty excited to be here as well.

Tinie: I know I can tell, I can tell.

Aliena: [laughs nervously] And how do you feel about having a sold out venue and an album that’s been as successful as it has?

Tinie: Well, you know what, speaking about the sold out venue, I feel like Newcastle’s always been very supportive, you know, with everything I’ve done and all the times I’ve been here I just feel that you know, in terms of the album and the whole tour in general, I feel like it’s nice to know that the public’s reacted the way they have, you know to “Pass Out,” to “Frisky” and to “Written In the Stars.” I can just see every single release that goes by, I can see the demographic and the fan base growing and growing and growing and that’s what it’s all about for me. I just promise if they continue to keep growing, I’ll keep making great music and we can have an amazing relationship together.

Aliena: And I mean you’re still pretty young, so you’ve got a whole future ahead of you. Do you have any idea where it’s going?

Tinie: You know what, I’m in it for the long haul man. Ten, twenty years, you get what I mean? The first album, I’m thinking about how I’m going to sound when I make my tenth one, do you get what I mean, I just wanna keep on going, keep on expanding the name, the brand, you know, we’ve got so many different things going on in terms of fashion labels, and you know management and looking after other artists and nurturing the next artists. The next wave of artists are coming through, so yeah, we’ve got a lot of things to do.

Aliena: And in terms of the music, do you get inspiration from anybody? Or is it just written by yourself?

Tinie: I’m always inspired, not only by other artists, I mean some of my musical inspirations are like Kanye West, Damen Albarn, the Script, you know, I listen to loads of different music. There’s a new band from New York called the Sleigh Bells at the minute, that I’m really, really into. However, I’m inspired by loads of things. I’m inspired by London, you know that’s where I’m from, one of the most amazing cities in the world and you know, just the fact that you know, the divide between sort of rich and poor are so close together and if you are rich, you can see what it’s like to be poor and if you are poor you can see what it’s like to be rich. You know, I feel like London is one of the few places to have that and that’s why I’m so inspired. And I’m just inspired by all the amazing things I see everyday, as you can imagine, life is like a rollercoaster and I’m seeing so many different, crazy things and meeting so many different people and that’s just my inspiration.

Aliena: And now before the show, do you have a routine before you go on stage? Or does it change every time you perform?

Tinie: You know what, it changes every single time I perform. At the end of the day, seriously, I’m just a normal guy, a normal 21 year old. I’m just doing what I love and once we get into the dressing room, I make sure my whole band is in there, my DJ, everybody and we just have a good time. We just have a little piss about, have a little laugh and that and it’s always good fun and I make sure I get some lemon and honey in beforehand.

Aliena: That’s great! Thank you so much for your time.

Tinie: Anytime.

Interview by Aliena Haig