Tinie Tempah is releasing a comeback album, The Night's Not Dead, which he hopes will help revive the UK's flagging grassroots club scene, where over half of venues now make no profit.
The 17-track record, previewed on three EPs titled 9PM, 12AM and 3AM, follows a full night out from dusk till dawn, covering the buzz on the bus, the bouncer stand-off, dancefloor euphoria, lost mates, a kebab-laden booty call, dawn-time liaison and the long trip home without keys, phone or mind.
A Rite of Passage
Tempah said the album is driven by his desire for his children to enjoy the same sort of sticky-floored, 2-4-1-on-voddie-Cokes adventures he did. "I see a good night out as a rite of passage," he said. "If you haven't done it, you definitely need to experience the euphoria and the joy and the connection and the randomness that it can bring to your life."
Opening track Don't Ask Me About Last Night harks back to Tempah's carefree clubbing youth. "I thought about that youthful exuberance, that moment where you've left your house, you feel independent for the first time, but you're also there to learn more about yourself," he said.
He also sees clubland as a vital platform for new artists and underground genres. "It's a scary time for artists," he said. "Even if you have a million streams per month for the whole year, after everything's been divvied up you're getting about 15 grand."
A Scary Time for Artists
"So to be able to do the circuit — go up and down the country, get cheered, get booed, get there and there's 200 people there, get there and there's 12 people there and you still have to win over the crowd — I think is very healthy," Tempah said. "If we lose these spaces, what is there for those artists? If they didn't exist, I wouldn't be here."
"The pandemic was really traumatising for us as a whole population," he argued. "A generation is relearning their own way to live. It's great that people are more focused on health [but] life is about balance. At the moment [clubs] are on a decline, and I'm praying this album will be one of many catalysts that will bring it back to life."
From Pass Out to Jiu-Jitsu
Fifteen years ago, Tempah was an early 2010s sensation, emerging from the underground scene of south-east London atop his own label, Disturbing London, built from cash spent selling second-hand cars. By 2010 he was a phenomenon, with his second single Pass Out topping the charts and arena success around the Disc-Overy album going hand-in-hand with intense fame and pressure.
"The attention was overwhelming," he said. "I'd been through so many ups and downs… so when it happened it felt like, personally, I deserved it. But you very quickly realise that if you don't keep up the workrate you're gonna be a one-hit wonder… So that pressure kicked in."
He recalls his major label insisting he miss his grandmother's funeral to continue working. "Pass Out was on such fire," he said. "There were so many opportunities. I'm not saying this to attack anyone, but I was manipulated into believing that you have to take this opportunity because it's right now, and it's unfortunate that you can't go to Nigeria to bury your grandma."
By 2019, the pop star hamster wheel got too much. "Every day just started to feel monotonous and no longer exciting," Tempah said. "I felt jaded, and I was getting to a space in my life where I wanted to try my hand at different things."
During this time, Tom Hardy sparked his interest in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at a King's Trust event. "Everyone's waiting to shake the King's hand, and he was like, 'Mate, have you ever tried Brazilian jiu-jitsu?'" Tempah recalled. Seven years later, Tempah is a purple belt and prize-winning jiu-jitsu battler. "To go down to a competition where there's a risk of your arm being snapped or you being choked out and it being on someone's camera reel was very humbling for me. I really needed it mentally. It gives me a peace."
He fights under the name of Emeka Okogwu. "But with choice, I would call myself the Wonder Man."
A Brave New World
Tempah now returns to a landscape of TikTok hits, AI interlopers and overnight scandal. "For someone who was just trying to do one gig and move on to the next," he said of Sheerangate, "I can't help but feel for the guy." But he sees it as a brave new world of opportunity and longevity.
"I see myself like a Van Gogh, like a Picasso," he said. "All I'm gonna do is make my works, put them out into the world, and whether people embrace them now or long after I'm gone doesn't make a difference to me."
The Night's Not Dead is out on November 6; Tinie Tempah plays the Roundhouse on December 3.
