Patrick Junior C. Okogwu (born November 7th, 1988 in Plumstead, South London), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a BRIT Award-winning rapper, MC and CEO of Disturbing London Records. Tinie gained national acclaim and chart success upon the release of his major label debut single Pass Out which debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart in March 2010.
According to the Pass Out Songfacts, Okogwu came up with his stage name at the age of 13. He looked up 'anger' in the thesaurus and found himself staring at 'temper.' Concerned it might be overly aggresive he added 'Tinie.'
Tinie Tempah first gained recognition in the underground music scene with the track Wifey, taken from his first official mixtape Hood Econ%mics Room 147: The 80 Minute Course. Upon it's release, the track became an instant smash, holding the Channel U urban chart top spot for 10 consecutive weeks. Established artists within the Grime scene including Bashy and Chipmunk featured on the mixtape. In 2009 Tinie Tempah released his second official mixtape Sexy Beast: Volume 1.
In October 2009 Tinie Tempah announced a record deal with EMI/Parlophone. He released his debut album on the label, disc-overy, on October 4th 2010. The album spawned six consecutive top 20 singles in the UK including number ones pass out and written in the stars, and swedish house mafia collaborative single miami 2 ibiza.
disc-overy is due for release in the US on May 17th 2011. The tracklist for the album features new collaborations with wiz khalifa, bei maejor and ester dean. It was preceded by written in the stars as it's lead single, which has thus far peaked at 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.