Tinie Tempah says he will finally visit Scunthorpe after campaign by fans
Rapper to visit Lincolnshire town 16 years after saying he had never been there in his hit Pass Out The rapper Tinie Tempah has said he will finally visit Scunthorpe – 16 years after he announced to the world that he had never been to the town in his number one hit Pass Out. His decision follows a campaign by fans, led by Ben Johns, a Scunthorpe resident, who carried a cardboard cutout of the artist around the…
Key points
- Tinie Tempah will visit Scunthorpe after fans reached 5,000 pre-saves of his new album.
- Fan Ben Johns led the campaign, touring a cardboard cutout of the rapper around the town.
- The visit comes 16 years after Tempah's hit Pass Out said he had never been there.
The rapper Tinie Tempah has said he will finally visit Scunthorpe, 16 years after his number one hit Pass Out included the line that he had never been to the Lincolnshire town.
His decision follows a fan campaign led by Scunthorpe resident Ben Johns, who carried a cardboard cutout of the artist around the town and urged people to pre-save Tempah's new album, The Night's Not Dead.
The deal with fans
Johns contacted Tempah on Instagram to ask what it would take to bring him to his home town. Tempah replied that he would make a "long awaited visit" in exchange for 5,000 pre-saves of the album.
The cardboard cutout, which carried a QR code linking to the pre-save page, visited Scunthorpe United's ground and John Leggott sixth form college, and went on a night out in the town. On TikTok, Johns called the planned visit "an iconic moment in British music history".
I can’t wait to come down to Scunny, and meet the wonderful people of Scunthorpe
— Tinie Tempah
What Tempah said
In a video on social media, the London-based artist, whose work mixes rap, hip-hop and grime, said he would keep his side of the bargain and head to Lincolnshire soon. He thanked Johns for leading the campaign.
Tempah's management said in a statement that they were looking forward to planning something special for the fans in Scunthorpe. Johns told BBC Radio Humberside he thought it would be a special night when Tempah performs in the town.
The song behind it
The 2010 single Pass Out spent 65 weeks in the charts, including two weeks at number one.
