Is Kate Tempest a rapper, a poet, a spoken word artist or a lit fuse? Whatever she is, she’s undeniably intent on delivering urgent messages that cut through apathy like a honed knife.
Since starting out doing open mic gigs at 16, Tempest has released four albums, five poetry collections and one novel, performing to cult-like crowds around the world. Her shows are a barrage of profundity and dazzling rhythms with phrasing that sounds both Shakespearean and straight-up.
Tempest’s work is, in part, a call to action capturing “the angry tension of being alive” in today’s precarious world (The Guardian). She wants us to learn from the past in order to confront an uncertain future. Lose yourself in a gig that reminds you all is not yet lost.
Proudly part of the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
Partnered by The Dominion Post.
