Central Cee has exported UK rap like no one else before, by sculpting UK drill for TikTok with fast-paced, bite-sized packaging that often remixes a recognisable hit, all sealed with his steely demeanour. An influential fashion figure and Gen Z icon, his success is global and previously inconceivable. His 2023 hitSprinterwith Dave sat in pole position in the charts for 10 consecutive weeks. The crowd at Co-Op Live arena reflects his youth appeal all the way down to primary-schoolers. But while the squealing girls and balaclava-wearing boys have their fun, sometimes it feels as though the rapper is too reticent to join in.
Arenas aren’t suited to reserved characters, but Cench, as his fans call him, is smart enough to match the Co-Op’s scale. He stands in front of a multitiered structure that, using screens, becomes an open dollhouse that tells the story of his come-up through the key places in his life, from his family home to his new pad. Unwinding into tracks from his initial mixtapes, his barbed flow rolls like a series of verbal jabs: “Your dad left home from young / And you ain’t done shit for your mum, ah man,” he berates on his breakout 2021 singleDay in the Life.
There being 20,000 pairs of eyes on him occasionally produces some wonderfully human moments that overcome his persona. However, if his tracks follow a formula, his performance on stage is no more mercurial. He sticks to a stiff set of hand gestures as if he’s cycling through Fortnite emotes, and when guest verses are often played in their entirety, he’s left clueless as to what to do on stage.
There are no issues vocalising on the mic though. He is just as cosy traversing the Brazilian funk rhythm of CRG as he is the sepulchral atmospheres knocking with doom-stricken gunshot snares on St Patrick’s. On an island stage, he flirts through Me & You in a black tank top and glittered snapback. Some people record on Snapchat, others resort to launching their phones on to the stage in the hopes of getting a photo from the social media king. His onscreen connection with fans defines the show, as he performsGen Z Lovethrough a live FaceTime with fans at the barricades. “If it weren’t for the algorithm, I wouldn’t have found my woman,” he raps to the phone.
Cench’s biggest solo hits are thoroughly optimised to clock in at under two minutes, but on his debut album Can’t Rush Greatness, he shoots for longer, verse-heavy tracks. So while tracks such as Doja are met with an almost unholy chorus of screams, the moment is over far quicker than tracks like Now We’re Strangers, which are greeted with a more polite response. The show concludes with Cench hopping back in his Yaris, revealing the whole show to be a dream. If only we could relive the highlights some more.
At theO2, London, on 24 April andOvo Hydro, Glasgow, on 27 April