Tinie Tempah

Tinie Tempah was born in London on November 7, 1988; his parents had come to the UK from Nigeria in their twenties. He grew up on the Aylesbury estate in Peckham, London, and moved with his family to Plumstead around the age of 12.⁠[1][2][2][2]

He attended St Paul’s, a Catholic school in south-east London. At 13 he looked up “anger” in a thesaurus, came to “temper,” found it too aggressive, and added “Tinie” to make his stage name. He earned A-Levels in media studies, religious studies and psychology, and then decided not to go to university so that he could concentrate on music. Seeing the music video for So Solid Crew’s “21 Seconds” made him realise that rap did not have to come from the other side of the Atlantic; he also took a job selling double glazing and used the earnings to fund his first music video.⁠[3][3][1][2][4][2][2]

In 2003, at the age of 14, he was just beginning to try to make it as a performer. Dumi Oburota, the 20-year-old son of a family friend who was starting out in music management, heard him rap and immediately tried to persuade him to sign, and the two went on to work together. They call each other cousins but are not related; their families come from the same village in Nigeria. For the next six years he did not have a record deal.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5]

In 2006 his song “Wifey” became a hit on the TV channel Channel U, spending 10 weeks at number one on its Urban Chart. In 2007 he released a 28-track mix CD, Hood Economics Room 147.⁠[1][1]

In October 2009 he signed with the record label Parlophone. He had already been played on radio stations such as KISS and BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry Radio 1Xtra.⁠[3][5][2]

In February 2010 his debut single “Pass Out” entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, selling more than 92,000 copies in its first week, and stayed at the top for two weeks.⁠[1][6]

His debut album Disc-Overy was released in October 2010, sold 85,000 copies in its first week to top the UK Albums Chart, and was later certified platinum. Its third single, “Written in the Stars,” also entered the singles chart at number one; five singles from the album reached the UK top 20, and “Written in the Stars” also made him a star in the United States.⁠[1][4][1][2][2]

The same year he won Best Newcomer at the MOBO Awards, and “Frisky” (with Labrinth) won Best Video; he also toured with Rihanna and Usher as a supporting act.⁠[7][7][1]

With four nominations, he was the most nominated artist at the 2011 Brit Awards, and he won British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single (for “Pass Out”). Accepting his first award, he said: “I want to big up God and my family for sticking by me when times are hard.”⁠[8][8][8]

Disc-Overy was also nominated for the Mercury Prize. In 2011 GQ magazine named him Britain’s best-dressed man.⁠[2][2]

His second album was delayed while his label Parlophone changed hands as part of the Universal-EMI merger. In the meantime he kept writing songs and released some for free online. Demonstration was released on November 4, 2013 and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart; coming to terms with fame is a recurring theme of the album. That year he won the MOBO Award for best hip-hop act.⁠[2][2][2][6][2][2]

In July 2015 his single “Not Letting Go,” featuring Jess Glynne, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Earlier, songs on which he was a featured artist, Rita Ora’s “R.I.P.,” DVBBS and Borgeous’s “Tsunami (Jump),” and Cheryl Cole’s “Crazy Stupid Love,” had also reached number one.⁠[6][6][6][6]

In April 2017 his album Youth entered the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine. It includes “Girls Like” with Zara Larsson (number five on the singles chart) and “Text from Your Ex” with Tinashe.⁠[6][6][6]

From June 7 to 13, 2021, he joined the French-Iranian painter Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar and the British digital artist Vector Meldrew for an NFT art residency at the Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, collaborating on the series Present the Future. He composed the music for one of the digital works, and some of the works were to be sold in a drop on Nifty GatewayNifty GatewayNifty Gateway was an American non-fungible token (NFT) digital art platform acquired by the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini in November 2019. Known for curated, time-limited drops and for allowing purchases in U.S. dollars and by credit card, the platform recorded more than $300 million in sales during the 2021 NFT boom and closed in 2026.Open the full entry on July 21 that year.⁠[9][9][9][9][9]

On August 23, 2021, Channel 4 announced that he would front the four-part documentary series Outrageous Extensions (working title), following home extensions with budgets from £500,000 to over a million pounds. He has an extensive property portfolio and is familiar with the challenges of home renovation, and he said he had always been really into architecture and design.⁠[10][10][10][10]

He co-hosted the Channel 4 motoring series Bangers: Mad for Cars with Formula 1 analyst and stunt driver Naomi Schiff, comparing modern classic cars from the 1980s to the 2000s. All four episodes were first shown on October 17, 2023.⁠[11][11]

On July 18, 2025, he released the new single “Eat It Up,” featuring Skepsis, his first solo release in eight years. The single accompanied “Last Night Out,” a campaign he launched with the Night-Time Industries Association to encourage young people to return to the dancefloor and revive the UK’s declining nightlife.⁠[12][12][12][12]

On July 28, 2025, The Venture RoomThe Venture RoomThe Venture Room is a UK entrepreneurial media brand centered on the YouTube channel @theventureroom. Through long-form interviews with founders and street interviews such as “Asking Millionaires How They Got Rich?”, it presents entrepreneurs’ stories and advice to aspiring business owners, and runs an entrepreneur community and brand partnerships.Open the full entry published a street-interview video filmed on Bond Street in London; he appears at 19:12 and introduces himself as a rapper and entrepreneur. On the show he said he had invested in the technology company Nothing and in a lot of property and art; he said his most profitable investments so far were some crypto businesses, including a project to bring LimeWire back. He also said his parents were immigrants from Nigeria, that he had watched them get educated and build a property business, and that his mother had always worked between property and fashion; he grew up learning from this and was always taught to diversify his investments.⁠[13][13][13][13][13][13][13][13][13]

Asked how he would make his first million if he had to start again, he said he would still choose music, because it is something he would do every day even without thinking about money. Asked about gaps in the music industry, he described the lack of communication between publishing and records and the large amount of royalty income that goes unclaimed.⁠[13][13][13]

On November 18, 2025, he played a return show at KOKO Camden in London, performing early hits including “Pass Out,” “Written in the Stars” and “Frisky” alongside newer material.⁠[14][14][14]

As of October 2026, he had announced “The Night’s Not Dead” UK and European tour for November and December 2026, with stops including Stockholm, Berlin, Paris, Manchester, London and Dublin; in October 2026 he also held in-store signing events at record shops in the UK.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15][15][15]

His manager Dumi Oburota helped him set up his own label, which became Disturbing London. Oburota describes it as an “entertainment and lifestyle company” that, besides management, has a record label and a fashion brand of the same name; there he signs and develops artists, runs his clothing label and even designs album covers. As of 2015 the company managed seven acts, including the singer Jessie J.⁠[16][5][16][5]

He has invested in Gener8, a free-to-use London app that rewards users for their data. In July 2022 he took part in a $2 million seed round for Zazuu, a UK fintech start-up focused on Africa; in November 2023 Zazuu closed after failing to secure new funding.⁠[17][17][17][17]

“Don’t be afraid to take risk. At the end of the day, fortune favors the brave.” (at 20:26 in the video)⁠[13]

“Sometimes I believe when you actually think about the money, especially when you’re trying to be a creative entrepreneur, the money never comes.” He suggests first choosing something you would love doing every day regardless of the money. (at 20:12 in the video)⁠[13][13]

“I’ve always been taught it’s best to have a diversified portfolio.” (at 19:31 in the video)⁠[13]

“Anyone who can figure out how to connect the dots, organize things a little bit better, find a more sophisticated way to distribute royalties to artists in a more clearer and transparent way will win.” He noted that a lot of royalty income that has been collected but cannot be matched to its owners goes into a so-called black box, and that when it goes unclaimed the labels benefit. (at 21:01 in the video)⁠[13][13][13]

Personal website: https://www.tinietempah.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

X: Public account: https://x.com/tinie (opens in a new window)⁠[15]