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Tinie Tempah revealed he does photo-shoots to keep on-trend.
“It’s good to do a photo-shoot occasionally,” he said, “It helps keep you up to date on trends.”
“Every couple of days I have a pinch-myself moment,” he said, “but I’ve decided to just embrace it. This is one of those once in a lifetime chances and you can’t be walking around overwhelmed all the time. You’re never going to get anything done if you’re always flustered. And I’m quite good at adapting to situations.”
He said he works 10 times harder than his contemporaries to stay on top: “It was about discipline in everything you do. I was always told that because I am of Nigerian heritage I’d have to work 10 times harder. You take a bit of what you want from [what you’re told as a child], and you get rid of the rest, but I really believed that, and you’ve got nothing to lose if you believe that. If you work 10 times as hard as anyone else, you’re going to do well.”
His Nigerian background might also explain the desire to look sharp, he said: “Being Nigerian we like opulence. If you go to any Nigerian home you’ll see red carpets, leather sofas, china plates. And the influence of the British, because Nigeria was a colony: speaking properly, behaving a certain way, making sure your tie is straight, your cuffs and your collars are clean.”
As for the modest background, that was inspiring rather than frustrating, he said: “I was that kid in Peckham living opposite those two-million-pound houses,” he says. “I could see that family with the 2.4 children and the Range Rover and the dog from my tower block. From as young as I can remember I was like, ‘Mum, how come we live up here and they live down there? What did they have to do to get that house? Why do they have a driveway and we have to go into a lift?'”
One of the great advantages of London, he said, is the proximity of great wealth to those less fortunate. “If you don’t see those things, if they don’t become real to you, then you don’t believe it’s possible and that makes it a lot more difficult to attain.”
Tinie Tempah’s second album Demonstration is scheduled for release in October it is the product of his ongoing musical education, touring the world, taking advice from new friends including Messrs Chris Martin and Damon Albarn.
He said: “It’s very loud and hard and heavy. And there are some very beautiful moments. It’s very personal. I felt a duty to let people in a bit more. I’m 23, I’m living the dream, it’s a hell of a ride and I just want to let people know what is going on in my life.”
One of the things going on is a developing interest in clothes. He started really caring about the way he dresses when he began to perform live in his teens. Tinie said: “I knew then that I can’t be wearing the same Nike sweats as the guy in the crowd. It’s show-biz, you’ve got to make it a little more premium.”
He’s often pegged as the latest example of the straightforward English dandy, but that’s another stereotype he’s keen to subvert. His style is more nuanced, he said. It has grown out of hip-hop’s sportswear label fetish, the tradition of London football casuals, his visits to hipster style capitals such as Stockholm, as well as a respect for the traditions of British tailoring.
He said: “Eventually, out of all those influences, you find you’ve got your own little thing going on.”
Tinie Tempah is on the committee for London Collections: Men, the three-day British menswear showcase that kicks off on 15 June.
Get Tinie Tempah’s look…Cardigan by Burberry Prorsum | Shirt by Oliver Spencer
Jeans by Levi’s Made & Crafted | Opticals by Cutler and Gross