As far as double bills go, this is perhaps the biggest and the coolest twin act of the year in Qatar. The lyrical swagger of Tinie Tempah and the pulsating grooves of Lost Frequencies are all set to sweep Doha’s crowd by their feet in one epic concert before the fiery summer intensifies its grip.
On May 26, at the beachside venue of InterContinental Doha, Tinie Tempah, who has topped charts around the world and performed at the hippest musical festivals all over, and Lost Frequencies, the Dutch maverick responsible for two of the breeziest hits over the last year such as Reality and Are You With Me, will take over the city, starting 8pm. They will be joined by one of the UK’s leading DJs Paul Mendez and local DJ favourites Legacy and Pyrokiss.
Jared McCulloch, Managing Director of Iconic Events, which is organising the show, told Community, “We are really excited to welcome Tinie Tempah. He is officially the UK’s number 1 rapper of all time, holding more number 1 spots than any other UK rap artiste. Tinie’s live shows are incredible. I have seen him live many times. It’s very infectious and energetic to say the least! Tinie has been in the Top 10 UK charts for the last 12 weeks with his brand new hit Girls Like featuring Zara Larsson.”
McCulloch added, “Joining Tinie is Lost Frequencies from Belgium – the only official Tomorrowland resident DJ alongside Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and he is responsible for two of the biggest hits of last year, Are you with me? and Reality, both hitting the number one spot around the world. His new single Beautiful Life is coming out on June 3, and is already tipped to be the anthem of the summer. This will certainly be an amazing concert.”
The most successful UK rap artist in UK rap history, Tinie is a mega-sized phenomenon. “When I do look back, I see I’ve achieved a lot but it’s kinda typical of me to want more. Everything I’ve already done, I want to do 10, 100, 1000 times over. I’m not sitting about being content and happy; I’m continuously striving for more,” says Tinie in a note, reflecting on his many achievements.
In Like It Or Love It, Dec 2011, Tinie raps: “With BRITs and Ivor Novellos, I left a space for a Grammy/ If it ain’t Adele out in London, I’m with Pharrell in Miami…”. Strangely enough, for 23 year-old Tinie, such claims are not fantasy but reality. The massive success created of his debut album, “Disc-Overy” was just the right start. The numbers till date would give you some indication: 1.2 million copies of Disc-Overy sold worldwide, 4 million single sales, 12 major awards (including two BRITS, three MOBOs, one Ivor Novello and a BET), 2 No.1 singles (Pass Out, Written In The Stars) and 2 Top 5’s (Miami 2 Ibiza, Frisky).
Tinie is also the first British rapper to sell over 1 million singles in the US after Written in the Stars went to No.12 in the Billboard charts. The single was also chosen as the official theme for Wrestlemania XXVII. Having supported Rihanna, Coldplay, Jay-Z and Chase & Status, Tinie announced a headline Arena tour in 2011, culminating in sold-out shows at London’s O2 and Wembley Arena. Some more pointers to the scale of his popularity – he has more than 100 million YouTube/Vevo views, 1.3 million Twitter followers and 2.4 million Facebook Likes to date.
Felix De Laet, better known by his now famous moniker Lost Frequencies, draws inspiration from a wide variety of genres so as to craft his unique sound. His love for hip-hop, drum and bass, pop and jazz amongst others, means that he liberally sources ideas from each of these into his music. Towards the end of 2014, the European music charts went crazy with what would be a global smash hit Are You With Me?
Interestingly, De Laet spent six weeks at the top of his native Belgian chart and was the first Belgian artist to have a number one record in the United Kingdom. An official note on his music says, “With the track also charting highly in Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, Europe quickly accepted the young artist with open arms and embraced his melodic, ethereal and inspiring sound. Are you with me has now been certified 4x platinum in Sweden and 2x Platinum in Switzerland, all but confirming the ambitious young producer’s huge talent and signalling to the rest of the world that Lost Frequencies will soon be both a titan in the deep house community and a household name.”
Tickets for the concert are available online at the www.PlatinumList.net, while physical tickets are available from InterContinental Doha, Crepaway, Saqr stores, and Game Zone at Gulf Mall.
Felix De Laet, popular by his stage name Lost Frequencies. Right: Tinie Tempah
