Kae Tempest describes his new album, Self Titled, as “a celebration” of the journey he’s been on for the past five years. This means the record’s distinctively raw, buttonholing “saff-east” London poetry comes charged with some biblically bold production courtesy of Grammy winner Fraser T Smith (best known for his work with Stormzy, Raye and Adele). He delivers mighty orchestration and beats that come crashing down from Tempest’s mountain with the heft of stone tablets. Facing down those whose “fear” leads them to view trans people as “disgusting” on single “Statue in the Square”, Tempest assures his community that: “We don’t need their permission to shine!”
That confidence has been hard won. Anyone who saw the 2023 BBC documentary Being Kae Tempest will have seen the then 37-year-old poet, playwright, author and rapper bluntly breaking down the distress of gender dysphoria and his struggles with panic attacks before finding “calm I have never known” after receiving top surgery. “People are obsessed about how difficult being trans is,” he told NME in April. “Being trans isn’t difficult, it’s f***ing extraordinarily beautiful. What’s difficult is being in the closet, hiding from yourself, lying to yourself, the living death of self-denial… the hatred I get from other people is nothing compared to the fear, pain and hatred I was giving myself.”
