Tinie’s youth spent in South London, a hotbed for musical culture and a notoriously curious juxtaposition of middle and upper-class lifestyles with endless flats and council estates, provided him with much material to begin his career with. “It was definitely a very multicultural hub for a lot of different styles of music,” he says, of it. “If you weren’t hearing Bhangra from your neighbour’s house or the corner shop, or rock from some of the more edgier kids, hip hop and garage that was very distinctively British – it definitely had an influence on me. I was from an alright part of South London where you had a bit of the rough and a bit of the smooth, so you could hear everything that was cool and exciting but at the same time you had access to what was out there already – what was popular, what was selling, so I guess I was inspired to try and combine the two to make my own sort of sound – something that was edgy, but had that pop appeal. And that was the beginning of Tinie Tempah!”
And how far he’s come, in such a short space of time. Along with his first album is his record label Disturbing London, established in conjunction with his cousin and manager, Dumi Oburota, established with the aim of nurturing and developing the talents of Okogwu and other like-minded artists. Oburota recently explained in an interview that Disturbing London was established out of their desire “to have a platform to put out our music, and there wasn’t any Def Jam or Roc-A-Fella label equivalent in England”, and I’m curious to see how successful Okogwu feels they’ve been in doing so. “I felt like we’ve begun to build a brand that’s becoming very well recognized, especially over here, and that’s nothing but a good thing – some of these companies that you just mentioned have been up and running for years and have lots of history,” he muses. “So hopefully, we’ve set up something that will be around for many years to come and is going to help artists like myself who needed that major ambition but indie support, and that’s exactly what I’ve got from Disturbing London with my cousin of course, just trying to make things happen for ourselves.”
Given his beginnings in the DIY, underground scene, one tends to wonder how such a level of fame has changed him as a person, but Okogwu insists it’s something he’s always aimed for. “When something has always been reality for you, or something that you’ve always wanted to do – I’ve found that I’ve adapted into all of the trappings of my success, and all of the things that came with it quite naturally, especially because I did the whole underground thing for a little while, so I knew what it was like to do a show and have fans, sign autographs and things like that. Obviously, not at the same level, but it wasn’t completely overwhelming – and my main ethos is you get out whatever you put in. I got to a stage where I realized this and began to work harder than I ever did in my life, and off the back of it, I’d get back to England and realize I could afford certain things, do certain things with my time, or go certain places I wasn’t able to before – I tried to ease myself into that.”
If you’ve listened to his breakout LP Disc-Overy, you’ll have noticed that it features an insane roster of guest artists on it – Kelly Rowland, Ellie Goulding, Labrinth, Swedish House Mafia and Wiz Khalifa all feature on various tracks. It’s hard to imagine how one dude with only one proper single to his name could have recruited such a stellar list of names to work with him on a debut effort – but it all comes down to charm, it seems. “It was mostly just bumping into people at festivals, events, TV shows, whatever – where you were on the same bill or something, and expressing your love for a similar thing or having something in common,” Okogwu explains, modestly. “Everybody that I worked with on that album – and this is something I plan to continue – I developed personal relationships with. Whether it was hanging out having a great time with Swedish House Mafia or chilling with Kelly Rowland or Ellie Goulding whenever they come to London, they were all friends before we got into the studio together and I always prefer that, because that’s when you get the most honesty out of the music and it’s not something that’s forced or contrived. A lot of these people you’ve mentioned, they were around before I came out, and so obviously they’re a lot more experienced and have different techniques and methods, so I just watch and learn in the studio, getting inspired by things, and that’s the difference in the recording process when I’m working with others instead of on my own – I was surrounded by great artists I could watch and be inspired by as opposed to when I’m by myself and doing my own thing, just trying to make it all happen by myself.”
Asked about the process of writing his own material, he’s similarly laid-back, working on things as they come to him. “Making the most of some of the weird things that I think about in my head sometimes, I’ve always thought that was pretty cool. One thing that I’ve learned, especially from the hip hop genre, is that everybody seems to be saying the same kind of thing with their music. About love or hate, peace or anxiety, frustration and anger – we’re all touching upon the same emotions; it’s about how you relay that across to your audience, to people listening to you. And I sort of realised, the whackier or crazier your lines are, the more you could write something that would appeal to people or be relative to them, that they can digest and understand, the more appeal you’re going to have. More references – for example, if I referred to – not saying it would be the coolest thing, but like, Neighbours before I spoke about Australia, the Australian attention would be there just waiting for the line about them, do you know what I mean? That’s basically how I try and put songs together and have a good time. And at the end of the day, I try and make music that I would listen to on the radio anyway, whether it was me or not, and it’s always fun having that challenge to try and make something that you can objectively listen to without noticing your voice or production ideas are behind it.”
News of a new album has been floating around for awhile, and Okogwu is reticent to discuss it in too much detail, so as not to disappoint fans if things fall through, but he’s happy to give us a general rundown on how things are at the moment. “I’m working on it right now; it’s sounding really good and progressive. I’ve got a title for it, but I haven’t announced it yet – I’m going to wait until I’ve got the whole rough body of work before I do, but I’m really excited about it, as you can imagine. So many things have happened between the point where I was finishing up the first record and starting the second one, so I have tonnes of stuff to talk about, which is always a good thing. Keep your eyes open and your ears peeled, it’s gonna be there before you know it.”
Last seen in Australia for Summadayze 2011, we’re more than overdue for another appearance from Okogwu, and as one of the acts billed for this year’s Future Music Festival, we suggest you head on down to get a glimpse of the hype that surrounds him at the moment. What should we expect from the Tinie Tempah live show, I wonder? “That enthusiasm of being back in Australia – somewhere that’s still relatively new to me,” he says, and laughs. “There’s definitely gonna be a lot of excitement on the stage – you know, weird sounds, that weird outlook and perspective on how music should be performed and showcased. And just an all-out fun time, lots of high-energy, it’s going to be good – seriously, a lot of fun.
We’re not sure whether he’s talking about him or the audience, there – but either way, he’s right on the money.
BY MIKI MCLAY
