Tinie Tempah Talks 'Uniting British and American Rappers' for 'Happy Birthday EP'

British rapper Tinie Tempah seeks to bridge the hip-hop gap between the United States and UK with his new EP, Happy Birthday.

The nine-track project—one that dropped more than a month following Tinie's actual Nov. 7 birthday—is loaded with truck-rattling tracks featuring stateside lyricists Wiz Khalifa, J.Cole, Big Sean and Jim Jones. 

“The main objective of this EP was to unite British and American rappers, but not in a sort of cliché, contrite way,” Tinie told Vibe.com on Thursday (Dec. 15), the day of Happy Birthday's release. “Everybody took their time with their lyrics, it’s all fun and everybody got to say what they want. None of the songs are really intended for the radio; it’s just people really spitting lyrics.”

The rap-happy effort, which also features UK spitters like Chipmunk and Wretch 32, expands on past collaborative records in the States, such as the Wiz Khalifa-assisted “When I’m Gone” from the U.S. version of Tinie's debut album, Disc-Overy. “I wouldn’t say it’s a medium between the first album and a second album," says the London native, "but I would say it’s definitely letting people know what I’ve been up to.”

Tempah is currently working on his sophomore album, set to be released in 2012. Download Happy Birthday EP at DatPiff.com. —Eric Diep