Tinie Tempah - Demonstration EQ

Crowned best-dressed man by British GQ and the custodian of his own fashion range, Londoner Tempah (aka Patrick Okogwu) is a confident fellow whose music gives off an agreeable swagger. On his 2010 break-out smash ‘Pass Out’ he rhymed about his future success as if it was preordained (turned out it was) while his second album, creaking with all-star cameos, is so breezily boisterous you can’t help be charmed – the occasional clunky lyric notwithstanding (“I’m not in denial/ cos that’s a river in Egypt,” he sputters early on).
Still, it would be a disservice to paint Demonstration (EQ) as a triumph of hustle over substance. There’s plenty of the former, but the songwriting is crisp and efficient. It’s notable, especially, that Tinie is able to hook up with Georgia hip-hop star 2 Chainz (‘Trampoline’) and not come off as the square kid trying to look cool. Swapping lines over a bubble gum flow, they’re a natural tag-team – for sure, 2 Chainz brings the sharper rhymes but Tinie’s laid-back persona imbues the tune with an effortless grace, without which it would probably buckle under the weight of its own ridiculousness.
Other guests include Laura Mvula who illuminates the swaying ‘Heroes’ and Paloma Faith, a twittering presence on the woozy ‘Lost Ones’. The biggest gun of all, surely, is Emeli Sandé, delivering her usual self-help platitudes on a ‘A Heart Can Save The World’.  Ultimately such adornments are unnecessary – Demonstration (EQ) is at its most resplendent when it’s just Tinie’s breezy flow and a stuttered beat.

Key Track: 'Trampoline'