By Eleanor Davies
A year ago, the name Tinie Tempah wouldn’t have meant much to many people.
However as the mastermind behind one of the catchiest tunes of the year, Pass Out, he has become one of the most played musicians on the radio!
With his debut going straight in at number one and staying there for two consecutive weeks, Tinie (real name Patrick Okogwu) has made 2010 his year to shine. And with his follow up single Frisky again making it into the top two, the singer can’t wait to get the crowds pumping when he takes to the stage at Virgin Media’s V Festival this Saturday!
And when I caught up with the music star last week, he confessed that he’s still getting over the shock of his sudden success.
“It’s definitely weird,” the 21 year-old tells me. “Everything happened so quickly and I haven’t even had the odd day on my own. I’m always surrounded by people, travelling, doing interviews or in the studio, it hasn’t sunk in yet.
“When people ask what my highlight is I’ll say something and they come back and give me five other examples of amazing things I’ve done this year and then I can’t decide! I think when it hits me I’ll probably go into rehab!” he laughs.
He seems much too level headed for rehab though! His enthusiasm for his music and what he does shines through as I chat to him, and he is as enthusiastic about his own work as that of his friends, N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder and Jay Sean.
“They have most definitely been an inspiration to me, in more ways than one,” says Tinie, who lives in South London. “At the end of the day when you see your friends on TV or radio it’s more inspiration than anything.”
And Tinie is proud to still be in touch with N-Dubz, who he supported on tour and Tinchy Stryder, who he has previously collaborated with.
“In the underground grime and garage scene we’re all in close contact and it’s great because we spur on one another,” he explains. “If one of us is promoting a single we all plug it on our twitter page. In that sense we’re like no other genre, because we’re all really close.”
But now it is Tinie’s time to shine. And after playing festivals all around Europe, then releasing his debut album, Disc-Overy on 4 October, he will be headlining his own tour.
However, you don’t have to wait until October to see Tinie perform as he will be playing at V festival this weekend!
“I definitely like to get down,” he jokes, when I asked him about his performance. “For me performing at festivals is a dream come true and connecting with the fans face to face I just go for it, perform and have fun.”
Catch Tinie Tempah at the Nissan Duke Arena on Saturday 21 August at V Festival Chelmsford.
For more details about Tinie Tempah visit tinietempah.com or myspace.com/tinietempah.