Tinie Tempah says he will finally visit Scunthorpe after campaign by fans

Rapper to visit Lincolnshire town 16 years after saying he had never been there in his hit Pass Out

The rapper Tinie Tempah has said he will finally visit Scunthorpe – 16 years after he announced to the world that he had never been to the town in his number one hit Pass Out.

Johns had contacted Tempah on Instagram asking “what it would take” to get him to visit his home town, and the artist replied saying “I’ll do you a deal brother”, adding that he would pay a “long awaited visit” in return for 5,000 pre-saves of the album The Night’s Not Dead.

The 2010 single, with the lyrics “I been Southampton but I’ve never been to Scunthorpe” spent 65 weeks in the charts, with two weeks at number one.

In a video posted to social media, the London-based artist, whose work is a mix of rap, hip-hop and grime, said he would be holding up his end of the bargain and would be heading to Lincolnshire soon.

He also credited Johns for leading the campaign, saying: “First and foremost I want to give a massive shoutout to my brother Ben. I’m so grateful for all your hard work. Pass Out might have put Scunthorpe on the map, but you’ve made sure that no one ever forgets Scunthorpe.”

He added: “To see everybody get involved with it, from Scunthorpe United to John Leggott college, loads of different people around the town, as well as people on the internet who aren’t even from Scunthorpe but want to see it happen, it’s just been amazing to see.”