Tinchy Stryder takes over MTV BASE

Bow’s finest, Tinchy Stryder passed through MTV HQ twice in 2 days! First he hosted his very special 2 – hour countdown, “Tinchy’s Top 20 Urban Dance Bangers”, look out for that on your screens in August. Dressed in his trademark “Star in The Hood” T – shirt, Tinchy rolled up with a HUGE entourage of just one person – his close friend, Words Mattic from Ruff Squad! His only request was to wear both his chains on – air to complete the look of the day!

As always Tinchy was a joy to work with, laughing and joking with the crew and even asked me to break down the complex fundamentals of Twitter for him! This coming from the man who has over 20,000 followers and regularly tweets about his “flee” life! He just couldn’t understand how to “follow” people! I eventually tricked him into “following” me – thanks Tinch – I needed an extra follower!

By the way, for those who don’t know what “flee” is – it’s a term derived by Tinchy meaning someone who is so extra fly - they are “FLEE”!

During the shoot, Tinchy revealed that he calls N-Dubz’ Dappy the “Luther Vandross of the Hood” due to his incredible vocal range. So on your travels, if you come across Dappy – shout out “Wa Gwan Luthy”! Tinchy also revealed that during recording sessions with label mate Taoi Cruz, they spoke about their love of cars, but was surprised when Taio revealed that “he doesn’t even drive – what’s up with that!?!?”. Finally Tinchy reminisced about the first time he was flown out to LA by the Godfather of Grime, Wiley for his video “Pies” , way back in 2004! Bless Tinchy – he looked even younger than he does now - peep the video on the net to see what I mean!

Not content with taking over our MTV studios for an afternoon – Tinchy came back the next day to give us a set of exclusive live performances to promote his forthcoming album "Catch 22".
He was joined by friends Taio Cruz (“Take Me Back”) and a newly recovered from suspected swine flu, Sugababe, Amelle Berrabah for the live performance of his latest single “I will never leave you”.
The song is destined to replicate the huge success of his previous hit “Number 1” ( which stayed at the top spot for a staggering 3 weeks) as Tinchy revealed that radio airplay has already exceeded what “Number 1” was receiving before it’s release!

Good Luck Tinch – the song is a smash!

Random fact: Did you know the song is not actually about a girl or loved one? It’s actually talking about Tinchy’s feelings towards the grime scene! In the song – he insinuates that despite his mainstream fame, his heart will always remain with grime and he “will never leave” it!

Typically – the day’s schedule was running late – but this didn’t put Tinchy off – all he requested was some chicken; a thigh and drumstick and he was good to go!

Ever the perfectionist, he asked to do several takes of each song to ensure everyone was happy! What a professional!

Make sure you support UK music and go cop his soon to be released album, “Catch 22” - it’s straight fire and you will NOT be disappointed with the hits!

Now I’m of to tweet to my new buddy – Have a “FLEE” day peeps!

Catch "Tinchy Stryder's Top 20 Urban Dance Bangers" - August 17th on MTV BASE @ 7pm.