Having won the Short List with his band TV on the Radio in 2004, Nigerian renaissance man Tunde Adebimpe is about to have another great year. His 2004 album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, earned his band praise from artists as diverse as Morrissey, Mos Def and Trent Reznor. But this was not Adebimpe’s first time in the spotlight. His first brush with fame came with his lead role in the 2001 romantic comedy Jump Tomorrow. Jump Tomorrow starred Adebimpe as George, a young Nigerian man on the verge of being in an arranged marriage who suddenly questions his situation after an encounter with a stunning Latin woman, who is also about to be married. The film won several awards and was a critics’ favorite. Following Jump Tomorrow, the NYU film school graduate landed himself a stint at MTV (Celebrity Deathmatch) and got directorial accolades for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut video “Pin”TV”. His friendship with roommate Dave Sitek, who was also producing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the time, led to the formation of TV on the Radio. In 2001 they released their debut cd titled Young Liars on the Touch and Go label. But it was 2004’s Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes that catapulted the trio (with band mate Kyp Malone as an addition) to stardom.
Since their debut, Adebimpe and TV on the Radio have left indie label Touch and Go for the majors at Interscope (also home of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Their new cd, tentatively titled Return to Cookie Mountain, is “a collection of hypnotic, shape-shifting tunes” that has already earned raves from David Bowie whom they have also been collaborating with. You can see the Nigerian Brooklynite on tour in the US as he promotes the new TV on the Radio album due out this summer.
Check out Tunde Adebimpe with TV on the Radio in the video for their song “Staring at the Sun” from their album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes.