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UEL student Tinchy Stryder still Number One

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Tinchy Stryder

Update:

A University of East London student is on top of the UK singles charts for the third week running. Tinchy Stryder, who is in the final year of his BA Honours degree in Moving Image and Animation at UEL, is rapidly becoming one of the biggest stars in urban music, and hit the top spot with his catchy grime tune Number One, featuring N-Dubz.

Known as the 'Prince of Grime', Stryder also reached number 3 earlier this year with the critically-acclaimed 'Take Me Back'. He performed on Sunday at the the Radio 1 Big Weekend, and his fellow students and tutors are delighted at his success.

Marc Coker, Senior Lecturer in Moving Image at UEL, has been working with Tinchy on his course. He said: “Tinchy is an exceptional student and highlights the talent we have at UEL. He is also very down to earth and has worked very hard to get this far, so congratulations to him for being number one, in every sense!

“As part of a vibrant East London music scene, Tinchy’s success now means that he’s incredibly busy. Grime music started off underground and like all good music, has eventually worked its way overground. It’s all about rhyming and rhyming slang.”

After performing on pirate radio stations in his early teens, including Deja Vu and Rinse, Tinchy became a big part of the underground scene. In 2003, he won the best newcomer at the Sidewinder awards and since then he has worked with major artists on the grime scene including Wiley and Dizzee Rascal.

Tinchy Stryder at UEL: exclusive interview

As a student who balances academic work with a meteoric musical career, Tinchy Stryder's achievement is truly unique. Following his appearance at the Radio 1 Big Weekend, he was back at UEL's Docklands campus preparing for his degree show. Our correspondent Karen O’Connor caught up with him in the library to find out just how he does it, and found an articulate young man with his feet firmly on the ground.

How does it feel to top the charts three weeks running?

TS: It doesn’t feel real at all. I never even had the dream that I could get a number one hit, I never even let myself dream it and even though it’s a dream I never had, it would have been too mad to dream that, it’s still like a dream come true – that I could achieve this kind of success so early on in my career.

Why do you think your work is so successful and speaks to so many people?

TS: I’m 22 and a lot of people my age or younger are going through the same things as me. They hear that in my songs. I keep it real and I speak from the heart, about how I really feel and I think I’m good at communicating that, that’s something I always knew I could do. I’m someone a lot of young people can relate to and although I keep my songs in everyday speech, I make it exciting too.

‘Number 1’ is about someone realising the person he thought was his best friend is the person he loves most, but it doesn’t have to be about a person it can be about realising what’s really important to you, what matters. A lot of people can identify with that. I’ve been writing songs since I was thirteen – my older brothers brought turntables and records home, and when I heard them, I knew I could do that. So although I’m young, I’ve been doing this for long time.

How has your life changed since your career hit the big time?

TS: Things have really taken off in the last year. A year ago my world was very different. I’d wake up and I‘d know what I was going to do each day. Now I wake up and everything moves so fast, it’s hectic and I never really know what to expect. In some ways I do the same things, I go to uni, I spend a lot of time in the studio, I love performing – it’s a great feeling when a song comes together on stage and when I see other people singing it back to me. And at the weekend I have a little party. I still do the same things as I did a year ago but the speed at which those things happen is much greater now.

What’s next and what are your ambitions?

TS: I do things as they come. I stay open minded, I don’t overplan but I have high hopes. I’m looking forward to my album, ‘Catch 22’, coming out in July. Long term there are a lot of producers I’d like to work with: Timberland, everything he touches turns to gold and Fraser T Smith, too. Right now I work with Rapid and Dirty Danger. We understand each other really well.

If you had one piece of advice to up and coming artists what would it be?

TS: I’d say don’t follow the hype, don’t just copy what’s happening, always be you, there’s no-one else like you and that’s the most important thing to remember.

Your tutors praise you as a model student; how do you balance your career with your studies?

TS: I plan to complete my degree this year. I’m at an important stage in my music career and I’m working hard to keep both parts of my life on track. That’s why chose UEL because it meant I could do my degree and get to the studio when I needed to.

How has your degree course influenced your music videos?

TS: I enjoy talking to directors to find out what their ideas are and how they’re putting together a video. My degree means that I feel confident at pitching ideas to them. I don’t make my own films yet but for the future I have some ideas of the videos I’d like to make. In a couple of years’ time that’s something I plan to be doing.

If you had one piece of advice to a UEL student what would it be?

TS: Your education is really, really important, stay focused and learn what it is you’re here to learn. I know how difficult it can be sometimes, all the hours you have to put in, but stick to it.

Are you proud to be an East Londoner?

TS: East London is in all my songs - it’s where I grew up, it’s what I went through, it’s what happened around me, it’s what I know, and especially with the type of music I do, it’s style is all about east London. But that’s not the strongest theme in my work. It’s always there because East London shaped me and it’ll always be a part of who I am but first of all I’m from Ghana and that’s stronger. That’s always there too in the music that I make.

Do you have main themes running through your work?

TS: Each song is really different and depends on what phase I’m in at that part of my life. I’m not really into issues, I’m not rebelling – I just keep my music real and it’s about being me.

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Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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