On Jan. 24, British rapper Central Cee released his first studio album, “Can’t Rush Greatness.” Honoring his nearly decade-long career and passion for music with 17 tracks, Central Cee discusses a variety of personal topics and even vulnerably expresses emotions.
Known for singles like “Loading” and “Day in the Life,” the rapper’s fame reached new heights in 2023, after “Sprinter,” a collaboration with British rapper Dave, charted at number one for 10 weeks in the United Kingdom. With the release of his premier studio album, Central Cee comes back with catchy and perceptive tracks, yet fails to make the splash he hoped to.
The first song, “No Introduction,” starts the album strong, with a unique instrumental and lyrics that call out those who looked down on him before fame and now try to get his attention. The flow and overall lyricism are decent, but it would’ve been nice to see more explosive power or variety in the vocal tone for the opener. The instrumental to the next song, “5 Star” felt similar to “No Introduction,” beginning an unfortunate theme of repetition.
The third track, “Gata,” stood out due to the collaboration with Young Miko, a Puerto Rican artist. Most notably, the track blends Spanish and English and was executed well. The unique beat and instrumental complimented both languages well and similarly, the two vocal tones blended cohesively together.
“St. Patrick’s” was less interesting with bland lyrics such as “after the show, go home / don’t trust these ****, I ain’t tryna have groupie sex.” The track discusses his negative experiences with dating and, though an understandable message, the aggressive tone and rhythm didn’t click.
“GBP,” an abbreviation for the Great British Pound features rapper 21 Savage, contrasting United Kingdom and United States street culture by talking about the necessity of money.
This song is followed by “Top Freestyle” and “Up North,” both showcasing innovative beats and instrumentals. Both contrast Central Cee’s childhood and current life, but “Up North” does this on a deeper level, such as in the line “the results from the doc came back / And they said that I got the imposter syndrome.”
The next two tracks, “CRG (feat. Dave)” and “Limitless”, employ more solemn tones. “CRG” reflects on both rapper’s pasts and the difficulties that come with fame, while “Limitless” talks about Central Cee’s childhood and his desire to support his family. Both songs express his vulnerability appropriately, though it would’ve been nice to hear more emotion in his voice.
“Now We’re Strangers” and “Truth In The Lies,” which features American rapper Lil Durk, take Central Cee’s emotional reflections another step further. The songs look back on past relationships and reveal the rapper’s regrets and the pain of a break up.
This sentimentality is contrasted by the next track, “Ten,” a collaboration with British rapper Skepta. The song calls out gold diggers and slackers and has a catchy refrain that features clever repetition with the word ten.
This is followed by two previously released singles, “BAND4BAND” and “Gen Z Luv.” The former features American rapper Lil Baby and showcases both artists’ success and wealth, while the latter reflects the impact social media can have on the beginning of relationships. Both feature catchy lyrics and captivating instrumentals that can quickly turn into earworms.
“Walk In Wardrobe” and “Must Be” bring back the solemnity, talking about the instability of life. With a variety of emotions showcased, both songs were insightful, strongly depicting the complexity of human relationships.
The album closes with “Don’t Know Anymore,” where the rapper echoes previous themes of his difficult childhood and reflects on how his life could’ve been different, powerfully bringing the album to an end and leaving listeners with a candid idea of his life experiences.
Overall, there was clever wordplay in each song and strong beats, but it was a bit one note. While there were a variety of thoughtful themes and messages, there was too much overlap between ideas and not enough experimentation. There was also little emotional variation in his voice and rawness in the rapper’s vocal tone, overall earning a three stars out of five.
