This was a move he later scorned, as he developed a more unforgiving street-rap style. He often filtered his vocals through Auto-Tune. than like rap, and it sounds as if it drew heavily from the Caribbean influences that surrounded him. The mixtape “17,” one of his early releases to streaming platforms, from 2017, was more like R. & B. Reared in West London, a hotbed of rap talent and gang warfare, Cench was exposed to a variety of local influences. drill has spread widely, but few British rappers have broken out in the United States. “In London, I’m ‘verified,’ ” Cench rapped. street slang, such as “leng” (sexy girls), “skengs” (guns), “nanks” (pocketknives), and “prang” (paranoid). Audience members relished the opportunity to show off their knowledge, proudly reciting U.K. Cench’s loquacious lyrical style didn’t dampen the crowd’s ability to sing along. slang?” he asked the crowd in New York, before launching into the L.A. The song has become a staple of Cench’s live shows. The lyrics were, in keeping with the modern approach to freestyling, too well crafted to have been impromptu, but the performance was such an acrobatic (and funny) feat of storytelling that the video quickly went viral. “We don’t trap in abandoned buildings, shots get hit out of vacant flats / In other words, ‘apartments,’ hidden compartments get detached,” he rapped. He performed a clever educational rap skit explaining the differences between British and American slang. Leakers appearance, his freestyling had taken on an air of levity. Back then, he was in the early stages of crafting his style, which was dense, digressive, and diaristic, full of references to intensely difficult lived experiences. He first made a name for himself in 2015, when he appeared on the prominent U.K. Freestyling is not exactly au courant among young American rappers, but it has been crucial to Cench’s success. Leakers, who are best known for a series of beloved YouTube videos in which guests freestyle. He was there for an appearance on a show hosted by L.A. Last fall, he visited an American hip-hop institution, the Los Angeles radio station Power 106 FM. Across the pond, Cench is a home-town hero, but to a New York crowd he offered an intoxicating mix of the exotic and the familiar.Īs his music has travelled farther from home, Cench has often acted as a game tour guide to anyone new to the universe of British rap. Their sound has, in recent years, crept into the mainstream, adding a truly international chapter to the history of street rap. The signature drill sound-characterized by cold, off-kilter 808s and swaggering gruffness-was eventually exported back to the States by way of Brooklyn rappers. Drill, originally inspired by a brutalist wave of hip-hop from Chicago, has become a dominant strain of British rap in the past decade. In the past three years, Cench has become one of the most prominent ambassadors of the U.K.’s thriving drill scene. The latter might have simply been a topical accessory, but it also brought to mind the shared DNA of contemporary New York rap and Cench’s music. Onstage, Cench wore an oversized chain and a classic Yankees cap. “I’m all the way in New York,” he said, and added, “I hope I can paint a picture for you to understand where I come from.” “How many of you lot have ever been to London before?” Cench asked the crowd, eliciting a wave of screams. This tactic, usually deployed to drum up excitement, was, by and large, unnecessary the audience had come prepared to sing along to every word. Cench once rapped that he’s “not performin’ if I can’t come with all of the guys,” but in a gesture of confidence he began the show alone, backed only by an impassioned d.j., who queued up tracks behind his laptop, shouting lyrics into a microphone at key moments. Instead, thanks to the familiarizing power of the Internet, the frenzied, sold-out show, which was at Irving Plaza, felt like a homecoming. Central Cee-or Cench, as his fans affectionately call him-is British, and a Manhattan stage can sometimes feel like a proving ground for a newcomer. One Thursday evening last month, the rapper Central Cee performed in New York City for the first time in his young and rapidly ascendant career.
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