Trampoline
by Tinie Tempah (featuring 2 Chainz)

Album: Demonstration (2013)
Charted: 3
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Songfacts®:

  • The lead single from Tinie Tempah's Demonstration album was produced by Diplo and features a cameo from rapper 2 Chainz. Tempah said: "I didn't want to over-think the first single too much but I knew it had to be a transition between the first and the second album. I describe it as being like a climax." The track was premiered on MistaJam's BBC Radio 1Xtra show on July 2, 2013 and released on August 4, 2013.
  • Diplo told The Daily Star that Tempah contacted him personally to work on Demonstration: "Rather than go through his management, Tinie reached out to me directly, which I really respected," he said. We've been going back and forth on our tracks, but they sound in the vein of the rap stuff I've previously produced – hard and heavy and electronic."
  • The song title is a nod to Tempah's gravity defying onstage jumping abilities. He explained on BBC's 1Xtra: "It's about all the crazy things I've been able to see. I was always able to get people jumping, so I kind of tied that in with a little joke that people made about me jumping really high in all my performances. That's why it's called 'Trampoline.'"
  • Fun Fact: The first modern trampoline was built by American diving and tumbling champion George Nissen in 1936. Its name came from the Spanish 'trampolín', meaning a diving board. Nissen had heard the word on a demonstration tour in Mexico in the late 1930s and decided to use an anglicized form as the trademark for the apparatus.

    The most famous trampoline in song lyrics can be found in Paul Simon's "Graceland," where he sings: "There's a girl in New York City who calls herself the human trampoline."
  • Tempah said of the song: "It's basically just a party anthem. It came to me a lot more freely than the other tracks - emotionally as well."

    "When people see 'Trampoline' I just want them to get into my mind state," he continued. "Life is really, really good - I really want people to get the idea that this is an anthem for people to run into the club and get down to."
  • Tempah sent the song back to the in-demand producer Diplo 37 times until he was happy with the sound. "I'm a faffer," smiled Tempah to Q magazine. "You need confidence when you say to Diplo, 'It's almost ready' after the 36th mix and he's going, 'FOR F—K'S SAKE!'"

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