.

Tinie Tempah Goes Into the Studio With Pharrell for Second Album

Also, U.K. rapper says he's talking with Adele about working with her

August 9, 2011 9:00 AM ET
tinie tempah lollapalooza 2011
Tinie Tempah performs at Lollapalooza 2011 in Chicago.
Roger Kisby/Getty Images

U.K. rapper Tinie Tempah has a busy rest of 2011 planned: In addition to continuing to perform on the festival circuit, he's working on an EP that brings together some of his favorite American and British rappers. "Expect that to be very awesome," he tells Rolling Stone. His dream team includes Big Sean, Mike Posner, Mike Mills, Chris Brown and others. "We might go a little old school on them as well, alongside some U.K. heavy hitters like Gigs, Skeptar and Chipmunks."

He's also working on his second full-length studio album. "I’ve been in the studio with Pharrell quite a lot. I’ve been talking to Usher about trying to get something done for it and hopefully, fingers crossed, Adele!"

Tempah says he's already spoken with the British soul singer about collaborating. "She’s a very good friend of mine and so it’s definitely something that we’re talking about," he says. "I want to do something kind of happy with her, something that people would not necessarily expect. I think she has an amazing voice and I’d love to see her use it all sorts of different ways."

He hopes to have everything wrapped up by the end of the year.

Related
Video: Tinie Tempah Talks About Big Collaboration Plans 

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »