Tinie Tempah facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tinie Tempah
Tinie in 2025
Background information
Birth name	Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu
Born	(1988-11-07) 7 November 1988 (age 36) London, England
Origin	Plumstead, London, England
Genres	Hip hop electronic dance-pop UK rap
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter television presenter
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Parlophone Disturbing London

Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), who is better known by his stage name Tinie, is an English rapper and singer. He used to be called Tinie Tempah. Born and raised in London, he started his own entertainment company, Disturbing London, in 2006.

After signing with the Parlophone record label in 2009, he became famous. His first two singles, "Pass Out" and "Written in the Stars", both reached number one in the UK charts in 2010.

His first album, Disc-Overy, also hit number one when it was released in October 2010. The album was so successful that it was certified platinum. In 2011, he won two BRIT Awards for Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single.

His second album, Demonstration, came out in 2013 and reached number three on the charts. In 2015, his song "Not Letting Go" became his sixth UK number-one single. This made him the UK rap artist with the most number-one hits, passing Dizzee Rascal.

Early life

Tinie was born in London on November 7, 1988. His parents are from the Igbo community in Nigeria. His middle name, Chukwuemeka, means "God has done more" in the Igbo language.

He grew up in south-east London with his parents and three younger siblings. The family later moved to Plumstead. Tinie was a good student and earned 10 GCSEs before studying Media Studies, Psychology, and Religious Studies for his A-Levels.

When he was 12, he came up with his stage name. He saw the music video for "21 Seconds" by So Solid Crew and got an idea. In class, he used a thesaurus and combined the word "tinie" with "tempah" (from temper). He thought "tinie" would soften the aggressive sound of "tempah."

Speaking about growing up in London, Tinie said, "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."

Music Career

2005–2008: Starting Out

Tinie began his music career in 2005, joining a music group called the Aftershock Hooligans. He recorded hundreds of songs with them and released his first free mixtape in 2005. In 2006, his song "Tears" was played a lot on the British music TV channel Channel U, which helped him get noticed.

In 2007, he released another mixtape called Hood Economics Room 147: The 80 Minute Course. Soon after, he and his manager Dumi Oburota started their own independent record label called Disturbing London. They wanted a place to release Tinie's music and sign other young artists.

2009–2011: Success with Disc-Overy

Tinie performing in Toronto, Canada in May 2011. Touring in North America pushed back the release of his second album.

A scout from Parlophone Records saw Tinie perform at the 2009 Wireless Festival and was very impressed. Soon after, Tinie signed a deal with the major record label.

His first single with Parlophone, "Pass Out", was released in February 2010. It went straight to number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling over 92,000 copies in its first week. He then toured with artists like Chipmunk and supported Rihanna on her UK tour.

His second single, "Frisky", was released in June 2010 and reached number two. That summer, he performed at many big festivals, including Glastonbury, where he performed on the main Pyramid stage with Snoop Dogg.

His third single, "Written in the Stars", also hit number one in the UK. The song became very popular and was used as the theme song for WWE's WrestleMania XXVII and for the 2011 Major League Baseball Post Season.

Tinie released his first album, Disc-Overy, on 4 October 2010. It featured his hit singles and went to number one on the UK Albums Chart. At the 2011 Brit Awards, he was nominated for four awards and won two: Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single for "Pass Out".

2012–2014: The Demonstration Album

Tinie in 2014

Tinie began working on his second album, which he announced would be called Demonstration. In August 2012, he performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, which was a huge honor.

The first single from the new album was "Trampoline", featuring the American rapper 2 Chainz. It was released in August 2013 and reached number three in the UK. The next single, "Children of the Sun", featuring singer John Martin, came out in October and reached number six.

The album Demonstration was released on 4 November 2013. It entered the UK album chart at number three. Tinie also featured on Cheryl Cole's song "Crazy Stupid Love", which went to number one, giving him his fifth chart-topping single.

2015–present: Youth and Television Work

In June 2015, Tinie released "Not Letting Go" with singer Jess Glynne. The song became his sixth UK number-one single. Later that year, he was featured on the song "Turn the Music Louder (Rumble)" by KDA, which also went to number one, making it his seventh.

His third album, Youth, was released in April 2017. It included the hit single "Girls Like" featuring Zara Larsson. The album reached number 9 on the UK charts.

In a 2020 TV appearance, he announced he was changing his stage name from Tinie Tempah to just Tinie. He has continued to release new music, including the single “Love Me Like This” in 2021 and "How You Samba" in 2023.

Other Activities

Tinie is known for his great sense of style and is a big name in British fashion. In 2012, GQ magazine named him the best-dressed man at their Men of the Year Awards. In 2017, he launched his own fashion brand called What We Wear.

He has also become a popular television presenter.

• In 2015, he was a team captain on the comedy panel show Bring the Noise.
• In 2021, he hosted a Channel 4 show about amazing home designs called Outrageous Extraordinary Extensions.
• Since 2022, he has presented the BBC arts series Extraordinary Portraits.
• In 2023, he co-hosted a car show for Channel 4 called Bangers: Mad for Cars.

Personal life

Tinie is a Catholic and has said that having faith is important to him. On 4 July 2019, he married Eve De Haan. They have two daughters, born in 2018 and 2021.

He is a fan of Arsenal F.C. and supports the Labour Party.

Tinie also practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has competed in the sport. In 2023, he won a gold medal at the English BJJ Open in his division.

Discography

Studio albums

• Disc-Overy (2010)
• Demonstration (2013)
• Youth (2017)

Concert tours

Main act

• The Disc-Overy Tour (2011)
• Demonstration Tour (2014)
• Youth World Tour (2017)

Supporting act

• Rihanna – Last Girl on Earth Tour – United Kingdom Leg (2010)
• Usher – OMG Tour – European Leg (2011)
• The Script – No Sound Without Silence Tour – European Leg (2015)

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Tinie Tempah para niños