Four top five singles, a debut number one album, a sold out UK tour and two MOBO awards: 2010 has been a breakthrough year for Tinie Tempah.

Tom Bowles caught up with him backstage prior to his set at The Plug in Sheffield. The rapper spoke on becoming a pop star, how life has changed, his hopes for the future and being the ‘black sheep of the grime scene’.

It’s been a remarkable year for you, how would you sum it all up?

It was scary for me coming out as a new artist to take on the mainstream. I didn’t really know how it would work out or how it would happen, but I’m so happy how the public have reacted to my music. I couldn’t have asked for anymore.

Five years ago, artists like yourself, Chipmunk and Dizzee Rascal were underground on Channel U, now you’re all achieving chart success. What do you make of the transition?

It’s a whole generation thing. There’s a demographic out there that have grown up listening to the likes of myself, Chipmunk and Dizzee. This is not an overnight thing, I didn’t just decide to pick up a pen and paper last year. I made Wifey in 2006, so the 15-year-old who heard it at the time is now 20. They’ve now become music savvy consumers, who are like, ‘I’ve supported him from the beginning and I’m going to continue to do so’. That’s why I think those artists are getting their shine now.

When an artist becomes successful, there’s always the argument about ‘selling out’, but you’ve said you never felt part of the grime scene anyway?

As everyone knows, grime in its original form was very east-London or north-London based, and a lot of the emcees we know now, they all grew up in the same areas and went to the same schools as each other. For me it was a lot different, I was from south-London suburbia, where there were trees and things like that [laughs]. That’s why I embrace the similarities when people liken me to Kanye West, because I didn’t really come from where they came from, so my subject matter wasn’t the same. I was sort of like the black sheep of the grime scene for a little while. Trying to fit in and getting my shot was everything to me.

I spoke to Tim Westwood in May and he said, ‘Shout out to Tinie Tempah who’s getting hits with real records’. How important is it to stay true to your roots when making music for the charts?

Music is a very creative process, and I feel over the last few years, when you look at pop music, people haven’t been as experimental as they should be. A lot of people are playing the safe card and a lot of people are just making what they think may work. For DJs, that must be a drag. Can you imagine every single week you get a new batch of songs and they all sound the same as the songs that came in last week? And you’ve got to play them, and you’ve got to convince your listener that you love this brand new song.

Pass Out and Frisky were sort of like a breath of fresh air for a lot of those DJs, so I’m very grateful and thankful that Tim Westwood made such a statement. Music is creative, so be creative with it and make it exciting. I just went in [to the studio] and made music I loved, which is why I’m so happy they blew up the way they did. For me those songs are entirely pure; I didn’t try and be safe, I didn’t tone down my language or dumb down what I was saying. I like the fact that people embraced that.

How far do you want to push Disc-Overy? Are there plans to take it overseas?

For me, music is all about organic growth. The same way I’m on YouTube and stumble across a song from Scandinavia that I really like and show my friends, that’s the sort of impact I want to have with this album. With British music, crossing over into other territories is a little bit difficult, so I want my songs to happen organically and naturally. But definitely, globally is always the overall ambition.

Any plans for the next album?

Nothing as of yet, I really want to work with The Script though. I want to do something amazing with them.

You’ve had all this success, yet you’re only 21. How has life changed for you? How does it feel?

It feels weird. I just adapt to whatever change comes my way. You’ve got to. I do miss things though, every time I go to a Students’ Union or look at a campus I always think, ‘Wow, imagine what it would have been like being at university’. But I’m happy to have a young team. My DJ and my tour manager are both young, we’re just lads that like to have a good time. It’s a lot of fun, there’s no greater pleasure than making a living off what you love.

Two number one singles and a number one album, when did it feel that you’d made it?

To a certain degree, it still doesn’t. I’m very much a believer in pop music being disposable; you can be here today and gone tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how much you kill it over a certain period of time, next year nobody might not want to know. There might be something else that grabs everybody else’s attention, so I’m always trying to better myself in everything I do. Now this album is out and released, I want people to fully embrace it and go out and support it, and I’m just going to start working on the next one straight away and just keep going.

You shouldn’t ever feel like you’ve made it. I haven’t won a BRIT Award yet, I haven’t been nominated for a BRIT Award yet, so how could I have made it? I haven’t been nominated for a Grammy yet, my album hasn’t gone double platinum yet. There’s still so much to do.

If pop music is disposable, how do you plan to ensure you stay relevant?

I hope to do that by being a well-rounded artist. As much as making good music, people like to buy into you as a character and as a person, whether that’s by what you wear or what you’re opinion is on certain things. I think that’s what makes a great, credible and influential artist; somebody who’s not scared to cross the boundaries and break barriers.

Invincible, featuring Kelly Rowland, the fourth single to be taken from Tinie Tempah’s debut album, Disc-Overy, is released December 26^th, 2010.

Related Links | Buy Disc-Overy on iTunes | Follow Tom on Twitter