[9][10] Their debut novel The Bricks That Built the Houses was a Sunday Times best-seller and won the 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Breakthrough Author.

[12] Kae Tempest grew up in Brockley, South East London,[4][5] one of five children whose father was a corporate media lawyer, and their mother a teacher.

[6][8] Tempest first performed at 16, at open mic nights at Deal Real, a small hip-hop store in Carnaby Street in London's West End.

Some of Tempest's influences include Christopher Logue (their "favourite poet"),[16][17] Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, W B Yeats, William Blake, W H Auden and Wu-Tang Clan.

[20] Since the release of Everybody Down, Tempest has increased touring as a musician,[21] playing at festivals and headlining shows with their live band which consists of Kwake Bass on drums,[22] Dan Carey on synths and Clare Uchima on keyboards.

[29] In November 2019, along with other public figures, Tempest signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.

The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few.

)"[33] The Huffington Post describes them as "Britain's leading young poet, playwright and rapper...one of the most widely respected performers in the country – the complete package of lyrics and delivery.

The Guardian commented of Brand New Ancients, "Suddenly it feels as if we are not in a theatre but a church... gathered around a hearth, hearing the age-old stories that help us make sense of our lives.

[Their] spoken-word performances have the metre and craft of traditional poetry, the kinetic agitation of hip-hop and the intimacy of a whispered heart-to-heart... Tempest deals bravely with poverty, class and consumerism.

[They do] so in a way that not only avoids the pitfalls of sounding trite, but manages to be beautiful too, drawing on ancient mythology and sermonic cadence to tell stories of the everyday.