Music: Kate Tempest

The Mercury Prize nominee spoken word artist/rapper comes to town

A few years back, Speech Debelle came from nowhere to take the Mercury Music Prize. The spoken word rapper/poet from London was signed to Big Dada, offshoot of Ninja Tune, and hopes were high following that win. But, it didn’t quite pan out like that, and since then Debelle remains largely unknown. Although the news just in is that she has now completed her new album. I, for one, look forward to that.

Fast forward to 2014, and fellow Big Dada artist – also a spoken word rapper/poet – Kate Tempest was nominated for her amazing album Everybody Down. Big Dada could have been forgiven for having mixed feelings about this; it could be argued that to be nominated is enough, and to actually win may bring unforeseen pressures and unintended consequences. Well, funnily enough, label mates Young Fathers took the honours, and so Tempest has been shielded a little from the spotlight and looks to have plenty of traction to become a truly established artist for the forseeable future.

Starting out when she was 16, rapping at strangers on night buses and pestering MCs to let her on the mic at raves – ten years later she is a published playwright, novelist, poet and respected recording artist. Her work includes Balance, her first album with band Sound of Rum, Everything Speaks In Its Own Way, her first collection of poems, and the critically acclaimed plays Wasted, Glasshouse and Hopelessly Devoted. Brand New Ancients, her self-performed epic poem to a live score, won the Ted Hughes prize in 2013 and the Herald Angel at Edinburgh Fringe. It has sold out tours in the UK and New York and is published by Picador. Her second collection of poetry, Hold Your Own, was published by Picador in October 2014.

Her debut novel, The Bricks That Built The Houses, sold in a highly competitive auction to Bloomsbury and will be published later this spring. She has toured extensively, supporting Billy Bragg on his UK tour, as well as supporting Scroobius Pip, Femi Kuti, Saul Williams and John Cooper Clarke. She is also a two-time slam winner at the prestigious Nu-Yorican poetry cafe in New York.

Everybody Down was released in May 2014 on Big Dada records. Produced by Dan Carey, aka Mr Dan, it was recorded in an intense two-week period, Kate having spent almost a year previously developing the characters and story. Her highly vivid, urban and literary tales are perfectly complemented by the electronic beats and rhythms of the music. Righteous, turbulent, despairing, tender, honest and truthful; a microcosm of London life in the 21st century.
Kate Tempest, Concorde 2, Tues 10 Feb, 7.30pm, £15

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