Photography: Josh Ma
Words: Ken Magno
The UK is notorious for bringing out some of the biggest names within the Drill, Grime and Trap scenes, but none have been pushing headlines like Central Cee. Bringing his debut album ‘Can’t Rush Greatness’ to the Sydney’s own Qudos Bank Arena, the rapper delivered on his album’s namesake as he painted a story of his meteoric rise to fame through his lyricism, production and visuals.
Since his earlier days finding TikTok fame through his single ‘Day in the Life’ and his debut EP ‘Wild West’, Central Cee has found ways to stay in the spotlight with his own discography as well as collaborating with the like of Drake, FKA Twigs, PinkPantheress and UK’s own Dave (with whom he released the Collab EP ‘Split Decision’ in 2023.
Throughout the night, Cench made sure to show his range – switching between his hard-hitting bars on the 808 heavy tracks such as ‘6 For 6’ and ‘Loading’, while also softening his tone on more vulnerable tracks such as ‘Me & You’ and ‘Truth in the Lies’. His production even featured a facetime call with numerous members of the crowd during his hit single ‘Gen Z Luv’, breaking the barrier between artist and audience and letting the Sydney crowd feel like a part of the performance.
Despite being the star of the show, the night had hit a high point with Central Cee giving the crowd a grin before stating “I didn’t hop on a 24 hour flight for nothing” before Western Sydney’s very own OneFour exploded onto stage with their heavy hitting track ‘Family’. The crowd absolutely exploded with the surprise appearance, going bar for bar with the notorious group on ‘Spot the Difference’ and tearing the roof off with their huge presence and incredible energy.
The final half of the show saw the likes of his hit single ‘Doja’ (which further cemented his reputation of being untouchable within his craft) stir up a frenzy in the room, to then bringing about his viral Dave collabs ‘Sprinter’ and ‘UK Rap’ as well as their most recent collaboration ‘CRG’. Central Cee has some of the most recognisable flows in the rap game, even being able to hold his own in the final moments of his set against the likes of Lil Baby on their track ‘Band4Band’ and Sexyy Red on ‘GUILT TRIPPIN’.
There’s always an uneasy feeling of seeing rappers take on the Qudos Bank Arena, with the acoustics of the venue more fitting the likes of bands and artists that are backed by heavy instrumentation, but Central Cee finds a way to give the crowd exactly what they want without sacrificing anything from his vision. To be able to hold his own while keeping the crowd bouncing throughout the night is a huge feat, and Cench was definitely able to go band for band with some of the biggest artists to grace the stage before him.
