Since early 2010 and the initial release of “Pass Out,” Tinie Tempah has been, in a sense, at the forefront of UK hip-hop. He may not have that traditional underground sound to him that many fans of the genre like to hear in emerging artists, but he has an electrifying style that lends itself flawlessly to modern club scenes and is also very inviting to collaborators. Tinie Tempah, as we all know, became a star, and following the massive success of the debut EP “Disc-Overy” there were rumours quite quickly that he was at work on a second album.
Since then, information has trickled out slowly and uncertainly, and while we know that the album will be called “Demonstration,” that it is apparently imminently forthcoming, and that it will feature guest appearances by Labrinth (no shock there) and Dizzee Rascal, very little sound has leaked as of yet from the album.
That said, at tinietempah.com, and on iTunes, you can hear the debut single – “Trampoline,” which premiered in early July and features 2 Chainz as a guest. This single, coupled with a few things Tinie Tempah has said publicly regarding his vision for the 2nd studio EP, have given us at least something of an idea of what to expect from this south London star.
Simply put, “Trampoline” is not the first time Tinie Tempah has made us wish we had better speakers. Fortunately, we can find those at mysmartbuy.com! But we can’t yet access new music beyond “Trampoline,” so suffice it to say Tinie Tempah is bringing the energy, and doing so with an electronic flair. This is nothing short of an experimental track, featuring pretty limited vocals but a variety of dynamic electronic beats that don’t make us want to hit the club so much as just listen again to make sure we heard it right. In a weird way, it reminds us of what Kanye West achieved with his summer album “Yeezus.” The music is nothing alike, but both demanded comprehension on some kind of a deeper level.
And in the end, this seems to be just what Tinie Tempah is after. In an era that could quite easily and dismissively brand him as nothing other than club thumping music, Tinie Tempah seems determined to experiment, expressing publicly his desire to work with new people and new sounds on his new music. We’ll have to wait and see if the album itself lives up to the promise, but whether it’s your style or not, “Trampoline” at least indicates an interesting release in the coming weeks.