泰尼·坦普

Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (; born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah (pronounced "tiny temper"; formerly Tinie), is an English rapper, singer and television presenter. Born and raised in London, he created his own entertainment company Disturbing London in 2006, alongside Dumi Oburota. After signing with Parlophone in 2009 and releasing several mixtapes, he rose to fame with the UK number-one singles "Pass Out" and "Written in the Stars" in 2010.

He subsequently released his debut album Disc-Overy in October 2010, which also charted at number one and was certified platinum in 2011. He won two Brit Awards in 2011 for Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single. In November 2013, he released his second album, entitled Demonstration. Preceded by top ten singles "Trampoline" and "Children of the Sun", the album charted at number three and was certified gold by the BPI the next year.

In June 2015, he released "Not Letting Go", the first single from his third album Youth. This gave Tinie his sixth UK number one, surpassing Dizzee Rascal as the most by any UK rap artist.

Early life

Tinie was born as Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu on 7 November 1988 in London, the son of Igbo parents from Nigeria, Patrick Okogwu Sr. and Rosemary Opiah. His middle name, Chukwuemeka, means "God has done more" in the Igbo language.

Until he was twelve years old, Tinie lived on the Aylesbury Estate in south-east London with his parents and three younger siblings: Kelly, Kelvin, and Marian. The family later moved to Plumstead, with Tinie attending St. Paul's Catholic School in nearby Abbey Wood. After earning 10 GCSEs, he sat A-Levels in Media Studies, Psychology, and Religious Studies at Saint Francis Xavier Sixth Form College. At twelve years old, Tinie conceived his stage name after viewing the music video for So Solid Crew's "21 Seconds". He used a thesaurus in class, juxtaposing "tempah" (temper), which he saw under "angry", with "tinie" (tiny), to ameliorate the aggressive sound of "tempah".

Regarding his London upbringing, Tinie states, "London is one of the only places in the world where you can live in a council block and see a beautiful semi-detached house across the street. Growing up around that was inspirational, it kept me motivated."

Career history

2005–2008: Early career

Tinie, then known as Tinie Tempah, began his music career in 2005 when he joined the Aftershock Hooligans, recording hundreds of songs amongst the fellow Hooligans. His first mixtape, "Chapter 1: Verse 22", was released via Aftershock Records in 2005, as a free mixtape. In 2006, Tinie gained a great deal of airplay on British music TV channel Channel U for his song "Tears", and later on gained more recognition for "Wifey". Later in the year, he collaborated on a track with grime artist Ultra and producers and songwriters Agent X. Many of his songs recorded with Aftershock between 2005 and 2006 were featured on the group's debut album Shock to the System (2007), which received support from BBC Radio 1Xtra DJs. He also released the mixtape Hood Economics Room 147: The 80 Minute Course in 2007 and left the group later that year, stating that he felt Aftershock didn't respect him as an artist and that it was time to move on.