Kate Tempest‘s sprawling stories of contemporary urban reality and human connection draw you in like a book.
The award-winning poet, rapper, spoken word artist, and playwright hails from South London and has been weaving her tales across genres, performing since the age of 16. Her rhythmic narratives and easy conversational flow are constructed over a moody backdrop of variegated beats, her attention to detail gripping. Tempest’s debut solo release Everybody Down, produced by Dan Carey, tells a continuous story across 12 songs, chronicling the lives of three 20-somethings and the ways in which they are trying to, in her words, “construct a selfhood that [they] can be proud of.” Tempest is currently touring the U.S. and her debut novel The Bricks that Built the Houses, which picks up where the album left off, is set to be published in 2016.
You can stream Kate Tempest’s music right here on KUTX.
– Leyla Aksu
