Central Cee: Get to know the Longitude headliner

You’ll be hard pressed to find a more popular UK rapper than Central Cee at the moment, with the wordsmith currently sitting at a very cushy 26 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. He’s been on a steep upward trajectory ever since hitting the scene in 2020, after the singles ‘Day In The Life’ and ‘Loading’ garnered a substantial buzz for the West Londoner – whose mother is from Ireland.

Perhaps it’s fitting that he’s appearing on a Longitude bill which features Doja Cat, considering it was his zeitgeist-capturing 2022 track ‘Doja’ which sent him stratospheric...

Britain’s hottest bar spitter whipped up a further frenzy with the release of his 23 mixtape. The collection of songs attracted critical acclaim for its strong production, which bolstered the rapper’s distinct flow and turn of phrase. The project shot to No.1 in the UK charts and followed on from 2021’s Wild West, itself the highest selling British debut offering of that year.

He’s since enjoyed his first top ten UK single with last summer’s Ivor Novello Award-winning ‘Sprinter’ (featuring Dave), which currently stands as the most streamed UK rap release of all time.

The 26-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down either, with 2024 proving to be a busy period thus far. He dropped the introspective single ‘I Will’ in February, and appeared on Brazilian artist L7NNON’s ‘Desacreditato’ a month later. More recently, he dropped the red-hot ‘BAND4BAND’ alongside American hip-hop juggernaut Lil Baby.

The tune has gone on to be the year’s fastest-selling rap single, ahead of the likes of Drake and Kendrick Lamar. A testament to his popularity among fellow artists and audiences alike, Cee was brought out by superstar Nicki Minaj to perform the track during her Pink Friday 2 concert show in Manchester.

The substantial hype is made all the more impressive considering he’s yet to release a debut album. It appears that we won’t have to wait much longer though, as fans have been speculating that an LP is on the horizon, with CRG (Can’t Rush Greatness) being tipped as a strong contender for the title.

Cench also has the in-person aplomb to back up all the recorded success. Irish fans can attest to his capability to deliver high-energy live sets, after the rapper previously headlined Longitude with a very memorable performance at 2022’s festival. Expect more of the same this time round...

Central Cee plays Longitude in Marlay Park, Co. Dublin, on Saturday, June 29.

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