Tulisa - The Biography

by Newkey-Burden, Chas

  Tulisa loved Dubplate Drama so much that she would sit and daydream about getting to appear in it one day. She was hooked for the entire first series and could not have been more excited when the programme makers approached her to be a part of the second series. Originally, she was considered to take the role of – in her words – a ‘slutty chick’, but in the end Tulisa took a more serious and emotional part, in the shape of a character called Laurissa. From playing Tallulah in Bugsy Malone and now Laurissa in Dubplate Drama, it seemed that Tulisa was attracting parts whose names corresponded to parts of her own name. For the next series she got an even bigger part, as she had impressed the production team first time around. Her Dubplate character was a cocaine addict who was in pop group The Fam and got abused by her manager and boyfriend ‘Prangers’, played by Ricci Harnett. It was not to be a light-hearted experience. That said, she performed the part well and would return to the show for subsequent seasons, as would Dappy.

  However, their main focus remained musical. They wanted to do justice to legacy of Uncle B by producing a winning debut album. To make plain that the effort was to be a tribute to him, they dropped the original title and named it after him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The upward trajectory in the career of Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer was crystallised when their first album was released in November 2008. They had originally planned to name it Against All Odds, but actually called it Uncle B, in honour of the man who had been pivotal in the band’s early days. Rarely in the modern era are debut albums so long in coming – the band themselves estimate that Uncle B was made over a period of eight years. As Fazer noted, it was almost like a ‘best of’ effort, as every song on the album had already been released via one route or another prior to the album’s release. It entered the UK charts in a high position: No 11. In Ireland it fared less well, only reaching No 36. The first full track on the album is ‘Wouldn’t You’, and opens – after a brief and tame ‘Na Na Nii’ from Dappy – with Tulisa’s soulful lyrics. Nonetheless it is quite a low-key song with which to open an album effectively. Certainly compared to some of the stompers that would appear on future N-Dubz albums this is a tame affair. Within a few lines of ‘Strong Again’, the ante has been upped as Dappy confesses to violence. The music is fiercer as he bemoans getting community service as a result of his misdeeds. Tulisa takes over in the chorus, and then handles the next verse. Opening a theme that would become a regular concern for the band, Tulisa reminds listeners that life is short. A similar sentiment appears in ‘Don’t Get Nine’.

  ‘I Swear’ blends Tulisa’s singing and Dappy’s intense raps with an upbeat hip-hop/grime track. She mourns having lied and delivers a convincing tone of regret. The lie had involved cheating by the girl in the song. Typically for the land of N-Dubz, she is caught out after her man spots an unknown pair of Nike trainers and then seeing her kissing another man. In ‘Ouch’, the issue of infidelity is tackled again but this time it is the man cheating. Tulisa’s high vocals are impressive. The backing track includes piano and violin. ‘It’s all about a whole debate between a woman and man after finding out the man’s cheated,’ she said. ‘It’s just a whole storyline, the whole aftermath of it. The video’s got a whole storyline too that people can relate to.’ There are also strings at the start of ‘Love For My Slum’. Other notable tracks on the album include ‘Feva Las Vegas’. Tulisa complains in it that success can provoke jealousy, even among friends. Was this a reflection of issues she had faced? In ‘Sex’, Dappy spares no blushes or details. Then comes ‘Secrets’, a tamer affair set to an acoustic guitar. ‘Dappy, turn my mike up,’ requests Tulisa before revealing that in the song she is going to reveal a thing or two about herself. Dappy then joins the vocals to reassure her that she is not alone.

  ‘Papa Can You Hear Me’ is, of course, the band’s tribute to Uncle B. Very emotional it is, too. David Balls was – as he acknowledged – rather harsh in his assessment of the song on the website Digital Spy. ‘The mix of uber-serious rapping and abrasive beats is fundamentally awkward, while their lyrics are as crass as they are heartfelt. By showing their softer side, the Camden collective are probably hoping to win some new fans, but they should probably stick to making hip-hop bangers in the futureside,’ he wrote. It is hard to agree: this song quickly became and remains a central part of the N-Dubz musical canon. Dappy’s tribute to his late father might not be as gentle as some musical tributes are but in its own, rough-around-the-edges way, it is a tearjerker and a heartstring puller. The album closes with ‘Outro’.

  Due in part to the somewhat obscure label it was released by, and the fact it was a debut, the album was not reviewed widely in the mainstream media. Describing the album as being made by ‘the sort of young people who wake Daily Mail readers up in a sweat,’ a reviewer on the In The News website described Tulisa as the band’s ‘chief warbler’ and complimented her on her ‘impressive chest’. He concluded that the band should not be dismissed and compared them to punk legends the Sex Pistols. He said his readers should ‘Buy this album and enjoy it for what it is: the sound of young Britain. Resistance is futile.’ Tulisa will have found it hard not to smile at the compliment paid to her chest. Another review brought to her attention was that on the Orange website. It concluded: ‘Parents won’t be too impressed, mind you, but Uncle B will likely be lauded for its furious party jams made with the Skins generation of reckless teens in mind. All that, and it’s actually quite a good listen.’ The RapReviews.com website said: ‘All in all, N-Dubz have coughed up an impressive debut that has been a long time coming.’ The reviewer, Jesal ‘Jay Soul’ Padania, identified Tulisa’s place in the band thus: ‘You have two rappers, one of whom sings a lot, and a single white female taking care of choruses and a few verses.’

  Unfortunately, one of the more mainstream outlets to review the album was less impressed. The Observer’s Sam Wolfson gave the album three out of five stars, but the actual main body of his review was more damning than that score implied. Indeed, the only thing he could find to praise it for was what he saw as its unintentional humour. ‘N-Dubz are like So Solid Juniors – three youngsters with lyrics so tame they’ve been allowed to play UK secondary schools,’ he wrote. In conclusion, he referred to a character from the BBC sketch-show comedy Little Britain: ‘N-Dubz’s inadvertent satire of adolescent attitudes is far more astute than Vicky Pollard’s. Shame they take themselves so seriously.’ In the Guardian, Alex Macpherson praised the work ethic and ‘raw talent’ of N-Dubz and its manifestation in their debut album. He wrote that Tulisa ‘attempts to intervene with keening vocals’ on N-Dubz Vs NAA, and noted that she and Dappy trade ‘rat-a-tat back-and-forth barbs’ on ‘Don’t Get Nine’. He enjoyed both, saying they ‘seem more like stage productions than tracks, and are much more compelling than some of the more standard cuts.’

  The album sold well enough to reach platinum status within three months of its release, and ultimately sold over 500,000 copies. The band was guardedly pleased with their progress. They had gone with their instincts in signing up with the new label and manager. A key part of the appeal for both was the degree of creative control the band was being offered. Dappy and Fazer considered themselves the ‘A&Rs’ – the acronym given to the ‘artists and repertoire’ staff who act as a liaison between the label and artist. ‘We chose the records that are gonna come out and decide on how we are gonna sound, no one else – it’s our ting dis,’ claimed Dappy, seemingly writing Tulisa out of the decision-making process. However, Fazer made clear that if Tulisa did not approve of an idea they came up with then that idea would not go ahead. The lady herself was delighted with the success of Uncle B and reflected afresh that labels who had turned them away would be regretting that decision.

  They embarked on a major tour to promote the album. In homage to the man as much as the album title they called it the Uncle B Tour. Originally it was to be a 16-date tour but such was the demand for tickets that the band added five extra shows. They played small-to-medium s
ized venues. For instance, in London they appeared at the Shepherds Bush Empire and Indigo2. Each venue has a capacity of over 2,000 people. For Tulisa these were busy times. As the band had rehearsed for the tour she had been filming her part for the third series of Dubplate Drama. She had to condense the filming into one manic fortnight while simultaneously preparing for the upcoming gigs. The next single the band released was ‘Strong Again’. A promotional video was filmed and everything seemed set for the song to be released. However, the physical release of the song on CD was cancelled But the download version of the single alone managed to get them to No 24 in the charts.

  With the increased profile the album had given them, Tulisa and her band mates branched out. In 2009, she and N-Dubz contributed to a fundraising song for the charity War Child. It is a small but effective organisation that works hard on behalf of children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war. They contributed to the song ‘I Got Soul’ – a reworked version of The Killers’ ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. For the recording they put together a one-off band called Young Soul Rebels, which included Tinchy Stryder and Pixie Lott. ‘We know lots of the acts taking part like Tinchy and Pixie, so it was a great vibe recording the song,’ said Tulisa at the recording. For Tulisa this was a cause she had never previously thought about. As such, she felt pleased to have been given the chance to learn about it and make an effort at contributing to the support of such vulnerable children. Having been a child in need herself in a different scenario she has a special warmth for the plight of all kids who are hard done by. ‘It’s an issue that hasn’t been looked at enough,’ she said. ‘And you know, even until I found out about this event, I didn’t really know that much about it, and that’s saying something you know,’ she told BBC Newsbeat. ‘And the fact that I’m only finding out now is not really good enough. So that was every reason for me to get involved.’ The band then encountered a sense of how it feels to be No 1 when Tinchy Stryder’s song of that name reached the top spot in April 2009. ‘Wouldn’t You’ was released by N-Dubz as the final single to be lifted from Uncle B.

  Another way that Tulisa spread her profile was by joining social networking websites. Acts such as Justin Bieber and Lily Allen have swelled their fame and fan base this way. Tulisa was to have a love/hate relationship with such online marketing. Later in her career she would build up a fearsome following on Twitter, but her first experiences with social networking were not happy ones. ‘I’m not [on Facebook]… I was, but Facebook themselves deleted me, because they thought I was a fake version of myself,’ she told the Sunday Mirror. She added that some of her Facebook interactions had been nothing short of farcical. ‘There are about 60 fake Facebook pages of me. I’ve actually had arguments with myself on there,’ she said. ‘I’ll message them saying, ”Look, I know you’re not me because I’m Tulisa”. And they’ll reply, ”No, you’re not, I’m Tulisa.”’

  One aspect of online presence that many celebrities have struggled with is the way that stories – often untrue – can take on a whole life of their own in the Wild West atmosphere that pervades the internet. In comparison to the way things can erupt over Twitter, the old-fashioned media can sometimes seem quaint and tame in comparison. When Tulisa made some light-hearted quips about how the infidelity of men might lead her to considering some same-sex relationships, she saw this trend in action. It all started with some observations about the often wayward behaviour of men after a man in her life had cheated on her. ‘They all cheat, but most of them get away with it,’ she said. ‘I’m jealous because I know men. I think there are five per cent of men that stay faithful, but there’s another 95 per cent out there that are absolute animals. Because I know that nearly all men cheat, it makes me hard to trust them and I would quite happily pay a bird to go and shag my man, record it, and if they gave me evidence I would pay them a grand.’

  As online chatterers cast this joke as some sort of official coming-out moment, Tulisa looked with shock and amusement. ‘People might think it’s weird, but I was right, wasn’t I? He was cheating.’ She added: ‘If I was going to get married, the first thing I’d do would be to send out a private detective. I’ve actually got the number for a cheating detective in my phone. When I get married, I will 100 per cent do a lie-detector test with him and ask if he’s cheated. Why is it hardcore? If he hasn’t cheated, it’ll be fine. I’ve got a couple of issues, but it’s not my fault I’ve been with f**ked-up men all my life.’ She continued the denial later. ‘I do hate men but I’m not gay. I’m not looking for a girlfriend,’ she told RWD magazine. ‘That tune was just fun and the video was spontaneous when I kissed NY. We were sat in the dressing room and I was trying to work out how to get her in the video. I was joking that we should have some ‘lezza’ action but I thought, “Let’s make her the card dealer then at the end you’ll find out she’s my chick.” You don’t see on the video fully but we actually kisssssed.’ That said, she has joked that she has considered hypnotherapy to make her a lesbian as she believes that women are so much more considerate as partners than men are. ‘Women treat people so much better in a relationship,’ she said. ‘They don’t have a d*ck to think for them.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  In October 2009, Tulisa and Fazer sat in for BBC Radio1 Xtra presenter DJ Semtex. During the show, she performed a hilarious impersonation of the singer Chipmunk. ‘This is turning into a mad two hours,’ she said. (She can also convincingly impersonate an Australian accent and has had a crack at imitating her cousin Dappy.) They also spoke about and previewed the second N-Dubz album, Against All Odds. When Uncle B was released, one critic had – quite rightly – praised N-Dubz for the work rate they showed in putting together their debut album. Well, for their follow-up effort the band would work even harder. ‘We’ve just taken a quick break,’ Tulisa told the Daily Star, announcing that they had returned to the studio in earnest. ‘We’re having fun and the album is sounding good.’ She added that they were keeping odd hours while working in the studio. ‘We normally work till 5am – I come alive at midnight, like a vampire,’ she said. As Fazer put it, they were in a hurry so they ‘got our skates on’ and often worked for up to 20 hours at a time. ‘The work rate was crazy,’ he said, accurately. The work paid off: their second album was completed in around four and a half months. It would be titled Against All Odds and was released in November 2009. (All three N-Dubz studio albums would be released in the month of November, and their 2011 Greatest Hits also hit the shelves that month.)

  Tulisa wrote that they ‘tried to be clever’ during the composition of the songs for Against All Odds, by attempting to include contemporary references and also themes that their fans would relate to. It seemed a sensible, if obvious, approach to take. However, they also followed the maxim to write about what you know about. In songs such as ‘Should Have Put Something On’, their own concerns are clear. The song looks at becoming a parent at a young age, as experienced by Dappy. Given the lengthy gestation of their debut, the band was pleased to have the chance to put out an album that constituted a more immediate reflection of where they were. They aimed to make an album with sharp messages about the world and life for young people. Its short opener – that clocks in at just 57 seconds – forms a theme-setting intro to the album. It begins with a double chant of ‘NaNaNiiii’ and proceeds to set a bunker mentality. Again offering thanks and credit to Uncle B, it nonetheless insists that their success came, in the song’s title, ‘Against All Odds’. Next comes ‘I Need You’, a track accurately described as their ‘biggest, most bombastic moment yet’ by Digital Spy. Dappy noted that it was ‘up-to-date and about Facebook and stuff’. It covers the experience of meeting a hot person in a club but losing touch with them after failing to take their phone number. The story is told from the point of view of both genders.

  Then comes the comparatively mellower yet still fast-moving in the chorus ‘Playing With Fire’. It is another narrative split between a male and female perspective. Here, t
he woman has discovered the man is cheating on her. However much she tries to get him to confess he won’t back down. Its infectious call-and-response chorus is its most distinctive part. Live, that section has become fun, with Tulisa adding a ‘Yes you bloody well did, mate’ to the end. Indeed, the song casts Tulisa perfectly as the cheated-on but savvy and plucky girl who checks her man’s texts and refuses to let him off the hook. (As one reviewer noted, had this been a real-life story one could only imagine what horrors she might find in Dappy’s text inbox.)

  The sequencing runs well into ‘Say It’s Over’, a song about the difficulties of ending a relationship. Tulisa asks in the chorus how she can find the words to say the relationship is over. The pain and confusion in her voice is authentic and palpable. This is a lighter tune than its predecessors but it is no softie, and is livened-up by regular chanting from Dappy and Fazer in the background. The next song, which features Wiley, is called ‘Na Na’. It is an unremarkable, high-energy rap tune that suffers in part from the low profile Tulisa takes. ‘Shoulda Put Something On’ features Dappy rapping harshly about his regrets at becoming a father so young in life. Tulisa sings the titular lyric soulfully in the background as Dappy vents his anger. She then sings of her rage at the man of the lyrics. Those who claim that N-Dubz is a terrible influence on the young would do well to consider how positive this message promoting safe sex is to the young. ‘It’s not something any of us have been through personally,’ Tulisa told the Daily Star of the song’s narrative. ‘But everyone knows some-one who has. The three of us wrote down our different perspectives and we based the song around that. It’s our favourite track on the album.’