Central Cee: Can't Rush Greatness review â an imperfect stream of consciousness
Thereâ??s glowing moments here â?? as well as peeks into the rapperâ??s mind â?? but these feel fleeting
Review at a glance
Central Cee is on top of the world. Part of west Londonâs contemporary rap dynasty, he took to Instagram 24 hours after the release of his final album single GBP to boast about just how well he was doing.
âGreat start,â he posted to his over 13 million followers, accompanied by a screenshot from YouTube in which he was trending.
These days, most of what Cench (as his fans call him) posts turns to gold; heâs reached the apex of UK rap, but it has taken more than a decade to reach his latest milestone: the coveted inaugural album.
Like its title, Canât Rush Greatness, Cench is aware of the pressures of a debut. âThe album needs to be bigger. Better,â he noted last year.
On No Intro, Central Cee, born Oakley Neil Caesar-Su, looks at what lies between his roots and the stardom heâs enjoyed in the wake of singles like Doja, Let Go, Loading, and Sprinter. âI want a simplistic life, but thatâs not realistic,â he raps.
Much of Can't Rush Greatnessâ introduction weds itself to a usual formula: Cench boasting about lavish lifestyles, flexing the women heâs been in proximity to and exploring his ascendancy in his lyricism.
Whether it's the comic relief found in living next to a potential âKarenâ (Gata), or the annoyance around people waiting for him to flop (Top Freestyle), Central Cee gets his lick back, juxtaposing nonchalance and grit as he flexes his muscles.
With his star now ascended, heâs also aware of the poking in his rearview â be it blogs, tweets, or west London rivalry â but simply doesnât respond (this was best evidenced in the now deleted CC Freestyle, a highly speculated Digga D retort).
He does however find time to revel in being a public enemy. âCanât keep my name out their mouth, they might beâ¦â he laughs on 5 Star, the innuendo-baked pause speculating on the sexuality of his critics.
The 26-year-old Shepherds Bush native does shed some of his stoic exterior, especially in candid, conflicted tracks like Top Freestyle. Here, he explores the harsh reality seen across multiple lifestyles â from gambling, to narcotics, and sex, addiction is exploited for capital gains â but Cench also contemplates his lack of wisdom too. Heâs aware of the space he needs to grow as a man.
Up North and its hollow bass sees the rapper acknowledge his community's single-mother upbringing and mental health. âLetâs see who really traps,â he states. Leaving home at 14, heâs had to sleep on mattresses â from the paranoia of bailiffs to multiple acres, he revisits his polarising circumstances alongside frequent collaborator Dave on the project's album track CRG.
In his ascension, Cenchâs romantic life has become public fodder. From the TikTok accounts reporting on his potential rendezvous with Ice Spice, to the longer discussions around his entanglement with model Madeline Argy, fans wanted both circumstances put on-the-record. The latter relationship seemingly haunts the rapper, and enters the fore across the albums third and fourth quarters.
Cench first tackles a sound adjacent to Santanaâs Maria, Maria on the Kamal-assisted Now Weâre Strangers. Recounting memories filled with Blank Street and Lulu Lemon, heâs now numb, and remorseful for his passivity. Ne-Yoâs infamous So Sick is utilised later as a sample, the trap and drill hybrid of Truth In the Lies seeing the rapper divulge further, despite Lil Durkâs vexing auto-tune dampening the songâs chorus.
However, at multiple junctures, the balance of introspection and context feels moderated by stray lyrics distracting us from the story. We get glimpses of who Central Cee is, but all too often he reels it in.
Ultimately none of it feels like a lie. The materialism, the familial dynamics, the dates, the guilt, the scattered thoughts are enough, for now. But if Cench wants 10 years more, the nonchalance must be tempered for longer. There are glowing moments on Can't Rush Greatness, but these feel fleeting across the 17-track release.
Columbia Records