FEATURE:
Spotlight
their Sound of 2022 artists, I wanted to spotlight those I have not featured before. One of the brightest names in British Drill music, there is a lot more to Central Cee than a single genre. He is a diverse and fascinating artist that is going to be one to watch this year. Before quoting from a couple of interviews, this is what the BBC wrote when they placed Central Cee fifth in their annual Sound of poll:
“One of the fastest-rising stars of UK rap, Central Cee has won fifth place in BBC Radio 1's Sound Of 2022.
Hailing from west London, his melodic take on drill has already earned him two Mobo Awards, and he's nominated for three Brits - including best newcomer - in February.
He burst on to the scene in 2020 with the straight-talking Day In The Life, in which he taunted his peers: "Turn off the auto-tune, let's hear how you really rap."
Freestyled while driving his car, the track was the culmination of 15 years of hard work. Born Oakley Caesar-Su in London's Shepherd's Bush in 1998, he's been cultivating his lyrical style since writing his first verse at the age of eight.
"I recorded my first song when I was 13 - recorded and released it," he told the BBC.
"I'm 22 now, so it's coming up to 10 years. But I wasn't really in the game. I was still in school, balancing things and just going through life. It was only literally last year, 2020, where I got to take this stuff serious."
Day In The Life and its follow-ups, Molly and Loading, framed him as a playful, mischievous character, eschewing the austere beats of drill for a more colourful sound - full of jazz samples and witty wordplay./
Amassing tens of millions of streams, the music quickly attracted the attention of record companies - but the rapper knocked them all back.
"Take that risk and go independent," he explained on the 2021 single Pinging. "I just turned down six figures."
The risk paid off, though. February's Commitment Issues secured Cee a number nine spot on the UK chart, and his first mixtape, Wild West, debuted at number two in March.
He celebrated the release by riding on horseback through Shepherd's Bush Market, and installing a giant mural on the nearby Goldhawk Road.
When Cee turned up to have his photo taken in front of it, "50 to 60 school kids turned up after, like, five minutes," he recalls.
He ended the year with a guest verse on Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits remix, and another top 10 single, Obsessed With You - a street love song that samples fellow Sound Of 2022 nominee PinkPantheress.
Central Cee is the first act to be announced for the BBC's Sound Of 2022, which aims to predict the biggest new stars of the coming year.
The rest of the top five will be revealed daily on BBC Radio 1 and BBC News. Now in its 20th year, previous winners of the prize include Adele, Celeste, Haim, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding.
Hey there - how has your 2021 been?
It's been an eventful one, to say the least!
You sold out the Shepherd's Bush Empire in October. Did you ever walk past it as a kid and think, "I'll play there one day"?
Every time I passed Shepherd's Bush Empire - which was two to three times a day for 10 to 15 years, I would look at it and I would just look and see who was on the bill, taking it in subconsciously. We could have sold a lot more tickets than that - but it was a conscious decision to make sure I did that one. It's important to me that I did that venue no matter how many tickets I could sell.
At the Mobos, you said you weren't sure how you felt about winning awards. Has your opinion changed now it's had time to sink in?
I still feel the same way but if I could reiterate it, what I meant is that I don't think people should feel like they need award shows to make them feel validated. We're all winners if we're in that room or releasing music, regardless of who gets the actual award.
When you started making music, you'd record with just a MacBook and a pair of iPhone headphones. How did you teach yourself those skills?
I'm just quite observant, I'd say. So when I've downloaded the software I kinda just messed around with it. I didn't even watch no tutorials or nothing. Because I've been in the studio so many times, when I'm in the sessions I'm just watching what they do. I'm a fast learner - it was pretty straightforward.
Where did the names Cench and Central Cee come from?
Central Cee just came. There's no interesting story behind it. And then Cench is just short for Central.
Loading became your first chart hit in the middle of the pandemic. What was it like to see your numbers soaring while you were stuck at home?
It was strange. I couldn't get out there and interact with the fans, or perform, so I felt quite detached - just looking and experiencing everything through my phone, being at home”.
There have been quite a few interviews with Central Cee in 2020 and 2021. I wanted to bring in a couple. Hearing about Central Cee’s (Cench) upbringing and rise is really interesting. CRACK profiled and spoke with the rising star in March 2021:
“The eldest of four brothers, Cench became wise to the perils and tribulations in coming of age in west London from an early age. “I didn’t have anyone older than me besides cousins who I didn’t spend much time with. It made me grow up faster, I had to be more aware and responsible,” he says, unflinchingly. “There are a lot of invaluable lessons you can learn on the roads. I think I learned more on my way to and from school rather than in it – at least skills that would help me survive.” Inquisitive and forthright, Cench has never been one to leave things unscrutinised: “I’d ask a lot of questions about what I was seeing, certain things weren’t right but I couldn’t always articulate how. But for a lot of people from where I’m from, that’s normal life,” he explains. This perceptiveness has fed into his lyricism in natural ways: “I’m from a city full of skyscrapers, Armed feds, X5s, high speed chases/ Now they wanna help I don’t need your favours/ When I needed help I couldn’t see faces,” he observes on his Mad About Bars freestyle. “Even though I’m young, there’s a certain depth to my lyricism,” he explains, thoughtfully. “There’s not much difference between the writing in my old music compared to now, I was still expressing how I felt.”
“There are a lot of invaluable lessons you can learn on the roads. I think I learned more on my way to and from school rather than in it”
Maybe it’s the fact that, like so many inner city kids, he grew up in close proximity to extremely wealthy enclaves. Shepherd’s Bush is within spitting distance of Holland Park, home to multi-million pound properties and where the environment is clean and idyllic. As an adolescent, exploring London, Central Cee knew he wanted more for himself. The moment he realised he could achieve it was the day he first walked into a recording studio. It was 2013, and his friend from school brought him into the studio where he recorded his first song. “It was a good day, I remember it vividly,” he says, smiling. “That changed my whole approach and inspired me to want to record more. That experience gave me the confidence I needed to put things out, especially when I was able to hear what I had just made,” he recalls. “Back then, studios weren’t as accessible as they are now but it showed me that this was real. I was gassed just sending the song around to girls and stuff: this is something that I’ve created.”
In many ways, for a young person who feels disenfranchised and ignored, the ritual of going to a studio, recording and then hearing your own music back is a transformative experience. Cench had an aspiration of making music, and the act of actualising it was a huge moment. “I didn’t care about much when I was 14, I wasn’t even living at home back then,” he remembers. The period coincided with him moving around a lot, staying with friends – but music provided focus. “I was just thinking about music. I didn’t know how it worked. There weren’t any people for me to look to, so I had to create my own way and dreams.”
Almost a year on from the explosive run of singles in 2020 that announced Central Cee’s arrival comes his next project: Wild West. The mixtape builds out his vision with unflinching tales of life in the trap, circulating around themes of pulling yourself above difficult circumstances – and making your own way, on your own terms. “Take that risk and go independent, I just turned down six figures,” states the memorable opening of Pinging (6 Figures) before Cench declares, “I don’t wanna hear no Samsung ring, I don’t wanna hear that sound/ The kids these days don’t care ’bout getting in a bag, they just care about clout.” It’s an approach that’s observational much more than participatory, and though he finds the time to celebrate his own rise to stardom on tracks like Hate It or Luv It, you can’t outrun the feeling that he’s paying attention to the world around him, and reflecting back. Something that’s supported by his own experience growing up within a close-knit community, but also somehow setting himself apart. “I always enjoyed my own company and preferred being on my own so I never felt the need to be with a group,” he remembers. “It made me observant of everything around me whilst everyone else was in the midst of it, and they’re all normalised to the fuckery in endz.”
There’s no doubt that 2021 will see Central Cee reap the rewards of years of hard work and self belief, and further refine a voice that already feels essential within the scene. But, true to form, he’s still learning. “I could always see my future, but now it’s just that much clearer. What I’ve now realised is how hard it is to have a vision of the future,” he reflects, sagely. In many ways, he’s still that curious kid on the bus, soaking in the city. Nowadays, there’s a strong sense of mindfulness about his approach to life; patience, being present, and gratitude: “I don’t have any expectations of where I’m supposed to be,” he says. “But I am feeling really grateful”.
There is one more interview that I am keen to bring in. Also in March last year, COMPLEX interviewed Central Cee around the release of one of last year’s finest projects/albums, Wild West:
“In June 2020, Central Cee seemingly burst out on the scene with the melodic “Day In The Life”, followed by “Molly”, “Pinging (Six Figures)”, jazzy Wizkid favourite “Loading” (his first Top 40) and more recently, “Commitment Issues”. The 22-year-old has been steady waiting for his rightful slice of the pie as far back as 2016, dropping freestyles for Link Up TV as well as an EP in 2017 entitled 17, biding his time and truly honing his craft with experimental sounds from trap to jazz-infused drill.
Today, Cench is an independent artist, popular for his catchy one-liners and suave demeanour, while sitting on tens of millions of views and streams. With all eyes on him and the numbers to prove it, the rapper is hungry and determined to claim what he believes to be rightfully his—the top spot. Complex caught up with Central Cee over Zoom to discuss his past, his present, and what his future could potentially hold.
“The fact that I’m an independent artist and have no features on the tape is a statement in itself, I think.”
COMPLEX: Technically, Wild West isn’t your debut project, but it’s your first full introduction to the people that only met you during your successful run last year. What statement do you intend to make with this project?
Central Cee: The fact that I’m an independent artist and have no features on the tape is a statement in itself, I think. It says what I want it to say. Knowing that I’ve put my best foot forward and put together the best body of music that I can, I’m not too fussed about how it does commercially, as long as it’s appreciated by the people that have been listening and supporting up to this point.
Was it intentional to have no features on the tape, or did it just happen to end up like that?
It’s all about energies. I’m not a fan of the preferred way of doing features, where somebody that would be a good look just sends a verse over email. There has to be organic chemistry and energy, and the reality is that I’m so early on in my career that I don’t know any rappers like that to have songs with them. I don’t really mess with a lot of people.
Why did you feel like now was the best time for this particular project?
To put it simply, I know that everybody’s listening right now. All of the momentum of my singles last year meant that all eyes were on me and I felt it was the right opportunity.
Are there any producers you work closely with on Wild West to achieve your unique sound?
It’s really exciting because I’m still so early on in my career that I haven’t really gotten accustomed to anything. I haven’t even found a studio that I feel 100% comfortable in yet, or even sat down and properly built relationships with producers. I’m still feeling my way around things, literally not in my bag yet—I’m loading! Including the kind of sound I feel ‘at home in’. On the tape, only one producer’s on there twice: Young Chencs.
You are West London through and through—what about your ends inspires you?
Growing up in West, income inequality was so much clearer—the contrast was really in your face. Seeing all the big yards in Holland Park every day on my way to school actually made me realise that it was attainable from a young age. I feel like people who don’t see these displays of wealth would find it more unattainable. So it’s definitely been motivational to be from West and see that”.
An artist with unlimited potential and a huge amount of kudos already propelling him forward, 2022 will be a very busy one for Central Cee. If you are new to his work, then spend some time acquainting yourself with his incredible music. He is still a relatively new artist but, soon enough, he is going to…
EXPLODE to the mainstream.
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