Tinie Tempah - 'Disc-Overy' (Parlophone) Released: 04/10/10

Parts of the rap genre in general, and debut rap artist Tinie Tempah in particular, are proof that musicians hold a special place in society. If you passed a man on the street boasting to his friends about how much money he has, how good in bed he is, and what a generally all round amazing person he has turned out to be, you’d tut, raise your eyes and mutter to yourself about what an insecure loser he must be. Yet many rappers have been doing exactly that, in rhyming couplets and set to music, for a good couple of decades now, to the point where it appears to have become not just acceptable, but expected.

Well, Tinie Tempah is no different. And therein lies the main problem with his debut album, ‘Written In The Stars’. He has basically regurgitated every arrogant rap lyric he’s ever heard in his life, copied and pasted large swathes of what currently passes for commercial dance music to rap it over, and bundled the whole thing into a debut album that is essentially one long gloat about how rich, famous and successful he now is.

Take second track ‘Simply Unstoppable’ as a case in point. If the charmless brag of “Tick tock/check my Roly wristwatch/f*ck how much your drink costs” hasn’t already put your back up, the desperate attempt at a once clever trick of using unexpected similes – “I’m about to clean up like a Dyson/Cos I just say how it is like Simon” – should have you raising your eyes and reaching for the skip button.

Further on there are attempts at big pop choruses, sung by guest vocalists including the likes of Eric Turner and Kelly Rowland, where you can almost see the pound signs rolling in Tempah’s eyes. See ‘Just A Little’ and ‘Written In The Stars’ for two shining examples. And later still, on ‘Frisky’, he takes triteness to a whole new level, claiming “Look I’m just a writer from the ghetto” and clutching at a half-arsed attempt to be a man of the people: “I’m bringing gravity back.../People work hard just to get all their salary taxed.” Oh please.

All of which couldn’t be more negative. But there are places where ‘Disc-overy’ shines - literally.

Firstly, the production is big and slick, with a whiff here and there of some passable grime and jumping drum and bass. It's the kind of polised finish that, until now, only big American rappers have conquered. And secondly, and more importantly both to Tinie Tempah and his record company, this album is going to be commercially massive, drenching the airwaves of daytime Radio 1  and being rinsed on every Ritzy-style nightclub dancefloor from one end of the island to the other. ‘Pass Out’ going to number 1 is likely to be only the beginning.

Unfortunately, the correlation between what is musically accomplished and interesting, and what actually sells records these days, has all but disappeared. Tinie Tempah’s impending success is a small part of the pudding that contais the proof. To paraphrase the old adage, we only get the music we deserve.