The London rapper exploded onto the UK music scene earlier this year scoring a number one with Passout, and narrowly missed the top spot again with his follow-up track, Frisky. (Combined, the singles have sold in excess of 750,000 copies so far.) He has grabbed the attention of world-renowned artists (Kelly Rowland and Swedish House Mafia feature on the album), supported Jay-Z on tour and shared a stage with Snoop Dogg at Glastonbury.
Tinie Tempah may have the confidence to set the music world ablaze, but does he have what it takes to answer our cleverly drafted and potentially insightful questions? Without hesitation, he delves his hand into the pot and pulls out a folded piece of paper and unrolls it to reveal the first of our biscuit-tin questions:
What is your favourite smell?
When a lady walks past that’s the best smell. That was one of my lyrics on Freestyle, “Nothing smells better than a lady’s scent”. A clean hygienic lady with some perfume on and hair spray and good moisturising cream – there’s no better smell. I love the smell of petrol as well, but that’s quite dangerous. Don’t sniff petrol!
What is your weakness?
A pretty face, I’m not going to lie. I’m quite big on features – nice prominent features. And if I meet a girl who is gorgeous I’m a sucker. I’m very confident with women, but sometimes when I meet a girl with a nice face… it doesn’t all go out the window, but she can probably tell that I’m getting a little bit weak at the knees.
What is your workout routine?
Performing! I don’t really have time, of recent, for the gym. So my workout routine is a good half an hour on stage, fully energetic – it’s a very good workout!
Savoury or sweet snacks?
Sweet – all the way.
When did you last cry?
I’ll be honest – I went home to my Mum’s house about a month and a half ago. She was acting kind of weird so I was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she started crying; and she said her mum was really ill and, because she was uncontrollably crying, I started crying. I am a bit of a Mummy’s boy. But she is all right - and my Nan is all right.
Have you ever been star-struck?
Well, I was pretty star-struck by Snoop Dogg. He’s a legend. He’s a fucking legend, if you don’t mind me saying. And with Jay-Z I was pretty star-struck too. I supported him on tour with Mr Hudson, and he was just backstage chilling and walked past me, so I introduced myself to him. He looked at my eyes and said ‘My man!’ and I was like: ‘That’s Jay-Z!’ But probably the person I’ve been most star-struck by was Prince William. When I performed at Radio One’s Big Weekend he came to watch my set. When I was walking off-stage, just before the encore, my manager goes ‘Prince William is here!’ I was like, ‘No Way!’ And I look round and there is a tall, kingly guy, with a hat. So I finished the set and I came off stage and we were just chatting for about 10 minutes. I didn’t know what to say. I’m not going to be like: ‘What are you doing this summer – are you going to Ibiza?’ So I was like ‘How’s your dad?’ But he was understanding and basically said that he really liked the music and he knew the words – that was a pretty big deal for me.
What do you look for in the opposite sex?
A pretty face, of course, but also confidence. I also like somebody who is in tune with who they are as a person. If I meet a girl, it’s good if she knows her values, what she’s about, what she wants to do, and where she is going in life. Some women are just there for the moment. I also look for somebody who is quite tolerant; as you can imagine, I am a little bit everywhere at the minute so I need somebody who has a bit of patience. And somebody who will take care of their appearance, and knows how to put an outfit together.
What is your favourite biscuit?
Probably a chocolate HobNob. Good with tea. You can never go wrong with a HobNob.
What is your favourite holiday destination?
Recently I’ve been to a load of places but it’s all been work-related so that sort of cancels them out. I was talking to a girl – who I am sort of seeing – and I was like, we should randomly just go to the airport one day and get on a plane. We can go wherever. She said Italy – it’s maybe not my favourite destination but it could be where I am going.
What is your earliest memory?
Having pictures taken with my sisters, you know, professional portraits and my parents dressed us really nicely. I must have been about three and one sister was two, and the other sister was just born and I was holding her. I’ve got a song called Snap, which is about taking pictures
and preserving memories. Pictures can tell you a thousand things – it can trigger how you were feeling, whom you liked, and what you were into. It’s good to look back on. So when I do my live show, you might see it on a screen behind the live band.
As a final question, we ask Tinie to come up with his own question that we will put into the mix for the next personality to potentially pick out. His suggestion? “Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever had sex?” However he refuses to reveal his own answer.
[Originally published in Rollcoaster Magazine Issue 1. Photography Roger Rich.]
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