Shepherd's Bush rapper Central Cee, aka Cench, released his debut mixtape 'Wild West' last March, and has already bagged two MOBOs, three Brit nominations, three UK top 10 singles and over 800m global streams. However, his success didn't happen overnight.
Heavily influenced by his dad's reggae, hip-hop and dancehall record collection, he made his grime debutback in 2017 with the slow-paced, auto-tune-heavy 'Over You' and has since showed his versatility with a move towards UK drill. Though not completely dropping the melodic grime-esque flow sensibilities, his focus now rests on concise, straight-talking lyricism circling the social issues facing those around him.
Mid-2020 saw the first signs of Central Cee's new drill outlook, with the release of 'Day In The Life' drawing in Big Sean as a fan. But it was single 'Loading' with its warming saxophone overlaidon bouncing beats and hard-hitting bars about the realities of growing up in West London that catapulted him to success on TikTok. Cench is now well acquainted with making viral hits, 'Obsessed With You', sampling PinkPantheress' equally-as-viral 'Just For Me', stayed in the UK top 10 for 17 weeks, while 'Commitment Issues' has amassed nearly 75m streams to date and is BPI-certified Gold.
Continuing his reign as global breakthrough champion of drill and UK rap, Cee kicked off 2022 with 'Retail Therapy', taken off his upcoming mixtape '23'. The energetic flows and colourful anecdotes build on the success of 'Wild West', which was the UK's best-selling debut album of 2021.