Central Cee announces long-awaited debut album ‘Can’t Rush Greatness’
It's landing in January!
It's been a long time coming, but British rapper Central Cee has FINALLY given his fans want they want, revealing details of his long-awaited debut album!
Central Cee, real name Oakley Neil H. T. Caesar-Su, has confirmed his album 'Can't Rush Greatness' will be released on 24th January 2025! The album has been recorded over the last 12 months in various locations around the globe, and features a number of producers, including the one and only Dave.
Fans and fellow artists around the world were understandably hyped to hear the news.
Krept commented: '🚀🚀🚀', with Tom Grennan adding: '🔥🔥'. Skepta commented: 'Ooiiii ⏳⏳⏳'.
A fan then commented: 'CAN’t RUSH GREATNESS. HISTORIC ALBUM. CRG 24/1/25'. (sic)
Another added: 'A legend before his debut album 💿'. (sic)
As well as the announcement of his debut album, Central Cee also dropped his latest single 'One By One' earlier this week, which was originally recorded back in 2021. Although it's been confirmed that 'One By One' won't feature on his upcoming debut album, it does serve as a notable nod to the album’s core sentiment.
What is the album called?
Central Cee's album will be called 'Can't Rush Greatness'.
When is it out?
The album is due for release on Friday 24th January 2025. Fans can pre-order now from centralcee.com.
What is the tracklist?
No official tracklist has been unveiled just yet, but Central Cee's team have said it will showcase his evolution as an artist, blending raw lyricism with bold production, pushing the boundaries of UK rap.
Check out Central Cee's amazing career so far below:
2015: Central Cee appears on 'Ain't On Nuttin Remix'
Central Cee first got his start in January 2015, when he appeared on 'Ain't On Nuttin Remix' alongside UK rap heavy weights Bonkaz, J Hus, Reeko, Yung Reeks, Wholagun, Bully, and Shower Malik (wow, talk about a stacked line up).
This appearance was big for Central Cee and showed he could go toe to toe with legends such as J Hus, whilst also bringing something new to the table. He was credited on the track as 'Central C', but he went on to change his name to 'Central Cee'.
In February of the same year he released his 'StreetHeat Freestyle' for Link Up TV, which brought him further recognition.
2016 - 2018: Career beginnings
Central Cee spent the next couple of years laying the groundwork for what would become a very successful career. In 2016 he released 'Pull Up', a song with dancehall influences that showed off his versatility as an artist. In 2018 he released his debut EP '17'.
2019: Change in sound
In 2019 Central Cee released his incredible 'Next Up?' freestyle for Mixtape Madness which further proved his skill as a rapper. In the same year he also met his future manager YBeez, who encouraged him to pursue a UK drill sound as opposed to his previously auto-tuned sound. This stylistic change was a big moment in the rapper's career.
2020: Release of 'Day in the life' and viral success
In 2020, Central Cee debuted his new sound. He release the single 'Day in the Life' in June 2020. This was his breakout single and was a big success for the rapper. He followed it up with the release of 'Loading' in October. 'Loading' was even more successful, being the first of his songs to reach the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
2021: Release of 'Wild West'
2021 was a great year for Central Cee. He started the year off strong with the release of his debut mixtape 'Wild West' in April. The mixtape debuted at Number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and Number 1 on the UK R&B Albums Chart, an amazing achievement for the rapper.
He followed this up with the release of his single 'Obsessed With You' in September, which reached Number 4 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second single to reach the Top 20.
2022: BRIT Award nominations
2022 started off with a bang for Central Cee, who was was nominated for three BRIT Awards at The BRIT Awards 2022 with Mastercard. He was nominated for Best New Artist, Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, and Song of the Year for 'Obsessed With You'.
Whilst he didn't take home any awards, this was still a massive moment for the rapper, especially so early in his career. We're sure the release of '23' will spell more nominations for him in 2023.
2022: Second mixtape
Central Cee released his second mixtape '23' on 25th February 2022. It featured 'Obsessed With You' as its lead single. The second and third singles from the mixtape, 'Retail Therapy' and 'Cold Shoulder', were released on 6th January and 27th January respectively.
2022: MOBO Award top winner
2022 rounded up on a high for Central Cee! Bagging a whopping four nominations at the MOBO 2022 Awards, he took home two wins - Best Male Act, and Video of The Year (in association with McCrispy) for 'Doja'. The rapper ended the night as one of the top winners!
2022: 'No More Leaks' EP
Cench released his surprise EP 'No More Leaks' in October 2022, which contained hits 'One Up' and 'Let Go'. 'Let Go' featured a sample of Passenger's 2012 hit, 'Let Her Go', and was certified Platinum with 600,000 UK sales in May 2024. He also became the first UK rapper to achieve 1 billion streams on Spotify in a single year - wow!
2023: Collaborative EP with Dave and Glastonbury performance
In June 2023, Central Cee dropped a collaborative EP with fellow British rapper Dave, entitled 'Split Decision' and featuring the smash hit 'Sprinter' which became Cench's first UK Number 1 single. Dave then joined Central Cee to perform the hit during the latter's set at Glastonbury Festival 2023 - what a moment!
The following month, Central Cee released 'On the Radar Freestyle' featuring Drake, and in October featured on 'Too Much' by The Kid LAROI and Jungkook.
2024: MOBO Award wins
Although he couldn't attend in person, Central Cee took home two MOBO Awards at the 2023 ceremony - which took place in February 2024. He won Best Male Act and Song of the Year for 'Sprinter' with Dave, and was additionally nominated for Best Drill Act.
At the BRIT Awards 2024, which took place a month later, Central Cee was nominated for a whopping four gongs: Song of the Year for 'Sprinter' with a second nomination in that category for 'Let Go', plus British Artist of the Year and Best British Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act. Although he didn't win any, it's still a pretty huge moment.
2024: Central Cee announces debut album
In November 2024, Central Cee announced he'd be dropping his long-awaited debut album on 24th January 2025. 'Can't Rush Greatness' has been recorded over the last year in different locations around the world - and is set to feature a number of producers, including Dave!
In the same week, the rapper also dropped his latest single 'One By One'.
2024 has certainly been another memorable year for 26-year-old Central Cee. As well as picking up two awards at the MOBOs, his single 'BAND4BAND' with Lil Baby is one of the biggest rap singles of the year, with over 2 billion global streams and more than 1.5 billion video views.
We can't wait for his album to drop! 🙌
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