Tinie Tempah to headline Trinity Ball as lineup announced early

Seventeen acts set to bring variety of sounds to Trinity on April 17

British rapper and singer Tinie Tempah is set to headline this year’s Trinity Ball alongside Irish rapper Rejjie Snow and British DJ Eats Everything.

The lineup for the 2020 Trinity Ball, due to be released at a launch party on Sunday evening, has been announced early by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) this afternoon following the leak of the lineup on social media.

Tempah, who was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2017 Brit Awards, will take centre stage as the headline act for the ball on April 17. Tempah has three albums and announced plans in February to launch a menswear brand.

Speaking to Trinity News, TCDSU Ents Officer Judith Robinson said she was “extremely happy with the line up we have this year”.

“We have a massive selection of acts from different genres, so there will be something for everyone,” Robinson continued.

“Our headline act Tinie Tempah has had seven number ones! He is an amazing performer and will be putting on a spectacular show for us.”

Tempah is joined by sixteen other acts, including Trinity’s own Cooks But We’re Chefs, DUDJ, and Trinitones.

Irish rapper Rejjie Snow, Swedish artist DJ Seinfeld and disco-funk duo Franc Moody were the first acts announced for this year’s Trinity Ball, revealed on February 5.

English DJ Eats Everything, also known as Daniel Pearce, will perform at Trinity Ball in between playing at venues in Melbourne, Miami, the United Kingdom and Europe in March and April. In 2012, Peace won Best British DJ in DJ Magazine’s Best of British Awards.

Closer to home, Cork singer Lyra is set to perform after a stint in February as Gavin James’ opening act in the 3Arena. From Waterford, Irish dance band King Kong Company, a regular act at Electric Picnic, will also take to the stage, while Sligo-based duo Brame and Hamo will bring their Berlin house sound to the ball.

Dublin hip-hop artist Maliki is also due to perform at the event. The 20-year-old rapper performs in a variety of different styles including spoken word and poetry. In December of 2019 he released an E.P. titled Butterfly Boy and spent last year performing gigs in Whelans and The sugar Club, as well as making appearances as festivals including Forbidden Fruits and Beatyard.

Another young artist to play this year’s ball is British neo-soul singer Joy Crookes, 21, who is set to release her debut album in May 2020 after the success of her singles since 2016. Crookes is of Irish-Bangladeshi descent and cites Irish artists Sinead O’Connor and The Pogues among her first experiences with music.

Moncrief is an Irish pop artist who last year released his first E.P. The Early Hurts, following the release of a number of singles since 2017. Describing the E.P. the artist states that it is “essentially the story of the coming of age of any young man”. Moncreif played a sold-out show in The Sound House, Dublin on December 19.

The DJ Holly Lester also joins the line-up, bringing an electronic sound to the event. In 2018, Lester performed her debut Boiler Room set at Belfast’s AVA Festival and has held stints as resident DJ as clubs such as The Warehouse Project and Liverpool’s Chibuku Shake Shake.

The artist known as Joesef is also set to perform. The Glaswegian has been compared to Amy Winehouse and his style was described by the Independent as “Motown grooves, hip hop beats and jazz guitar”. His debut single, Limbo was released in 2019 and he reportedly records all his music from his bedroom.

Another Glasgow born artist to join the line-up is singer/songwriter Lisa McHugh. McHugh describes her music as having country and pop influences. She has released seven albums and thirteen singles, eleven of which rose to the number 1 spot in the iTunes Country chart in Ireland. Four of her albums went on to chart the top 20 of The official Irish Charts.

Also included in the programme are Cooks But We’re Chefs, a nine piece ensemble who incorporated elements of jazz, hip hop, and disco/house into their sound.

Completing the line-up are two Trinity based acts, the acappella group now a staple of the annual Trinity Ball, the Trintones, and DUDJ, made up of members of Trinity’s own DJ society.

This year’s Trinity Ball takes place on April 17, with tickets on sale February 19 from 9am.

Lauren Boland

Lauren Boland was the Editor of the 67th volume of Trinity News. She is an English Literature and Sociology graduate and previously served as Deputy Editor, News Editor and Assistant News Editor.

Finn Purdy

Finn Purdy is the current Deputy Editor of Trinity News. He is a Junior Sophister English Studies student, and a former News Editor and Assistant News Editor.