Tinie Tempah releases The Night's Not Dead and backs grassroots venues

Tinie Tempah has returned with a new album, The Night's Not Dead, and has joined the campaign to protect grassroots music venues. The rapper, whose real name is Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, released the record after nearly a decade without an album. He said it is themed around the search for a big night out and is filled with rave floor fillers and drum and bass tracks.

He returned to Eclectic at Peckham Levels, a venue he knows from the start of his career. He said he shot a video at The Roof when the venue first started and called it an iconic space. The visit underlined the link between small venues and the UK rap and grime talent that later toured with stars such as Jay-Z and Rihanna.

Tinie also spoke about fatherhood. He said it had been one of the most transformative things in his life and that his children now come first. His career began with small local gigs and rapping on the streets of southeast London, and he argued that the grassroots circuit was essential to that path. He said that without the places and spaces he played, he would not be where he is today.

The report set out the pressure on those venues. Sky-high rents mean many small venues make no profit, and one closed every 10 days across the UK last year. Eclectic itself had to move to a new home this week because it could not afford business rates. Tinie has teamed up with the Music Venue Trust to campaign to keep such venues open.

There was also a local campaign in Scunthorpe. Tinie has not played there, but fans led by Ben Johns pushed for him to come. He said the target had been reached and that a date was booked. His album tour starts in Stockholm in November, with a London home leg before Christmas.