Tinie Tempah Biography

Tinie Tempah (Real Name Patrick Okogwu) (born November 7, 1988) is a rapper and MC from South London. He was born to Nigerian parents Pat & Rose Okogwu. Since the age of sixteen, he has remained on a vertical path to success using every opportunity to get his music heard by the masses.

His first break as a musician came when Sony launched its Playstation Portable (PSP) and used a track entitled "Listen To The Vibe" featuring Yazmin & DJ Ironik for the futuristic racing game, Wipeout Pure. This resulted in a promotional European tour alongside the likes of Sway and Dizzee Rascal.

Whilst battling his A-Levels, he and a friend began exchanging mix tapes of local pirate radio sessions from the likes of Wiley, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk. "Their success has definitely showed me what could possibly happen or how far it could go," he says. "A few years before this nobody thought urban artists would be doing sold out tours and selling number one singles. I'm one of those people who when they've seen it has been done, I like to take it a step further."

His personal break came with a YouTube video hit of a track called "Wifey Wifey" and scoring a track for a hand-held computer console alongside DJ Ironik in 2005. Patrick went on to shoot his first music video for "Wifey", which went on to be an underground smash hit holding the Channel U urban chart top spot for 10 consecutive weeks.

Alongside his cousin who came on board as manager, the pair set up their own label, Disturbing London Records, through which Patrick released his first official mixtape, Hood Economics Room 147: The 80 Minute Course. As well as featuring Bashy and Chipmunk (rapper), the CD caught the attention of a writer from the New York Times, who gave it a glowing review, noting Patrick’s shifting rhyme schemes, delivery and "nerve."

Earlier this year he released his second mixtape, "Sexy Beast: Volume 1". Inspired by the Ray Winstone film, the CD featured M.I.A. (artist) on I’m Hot and proved to be so popular that the South Londoner ended up making another D.I.Y. video in New York.

His track "Pass Out" has received radio play from Tim Westwood, Nick Grimshaw, Ras Kwame, MistaJam, and Jo Whiley while Zane Lowe declared it the "Hottest Record In The World Today" and "Single Of The Week" and is currently on the BBC Radio 1 Playlist B List.

Patrick was nominated for MTV's 10 for 2010 as an artist to watch out for in 2010.

He announced his signing to Parlophone by running a competition on his blog, with the winner invited to High Tea at Claridges to celebrate the deal. According to MTV, Patrick's major label debut album, titled "The Disc-Overy", is due to release in July 2010. A tour with Chipmunk is to come soon in February 2010 aswell.
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