The Central Cee: Can’t Rush Greatness Review

The Central Cee storyline has been quite an interesting one, From entering the UK rap scene and quickly becoming a shining star to his viral success reaching the states with songs like ‘Doja’ and ‘Let Go’, from there Central Cee’s run only continued by rolling out his collab EP with UK star Dave featuring his biggest single to date ‘Sprinter’ and finally it felt like the Central Cee hype peaked when he appeared on ‘On The Radar Freestyle’ with Drake. Central Cee was hot as fish grease after this point and with the whole world waiting for his debut album Cench disappeared. Here we are a year and a half later and we finally get to hear what the British emcee has to say.

I have to admit this album on the first listen was one of the better surprises I’ve recently heard. My expectations for this project were admittedly very low, I didn’t know what to expect from Cee, after that initial run he went on in 2023 it felt like he lost his way and couldn’t find a single to stick. Fast forward to January 24 and the albums release. 17 songs and 49 minutes after pressing play I was left genuinely pleased. No the album is not perfect and definitely has some fat to be trimmed but highs far outweigh the lows.

One of the main traits that separates Central from these failing drill rappers is Cench can actually rap, and has a story to tell. In a world where 90% of drill songs are filled with repetitive gin adlibs and spamming deceased names, Central Cee is actually crafting verses with complex rhyme schemes while telling the story of his come up. This album also does a solid job of exploring different vibes and flows, from the bar heavy songs like ‘5star’ to pop hits like ‘Gen Z Luv’ which happens to be one of my favorite tracks on the album as it features an interesting 2025 approach to a love song highlighting the importance of social media in todays world. One of the album standouts comes on title track ‘CRG’ with Dave, yes Dave goes absolutely insane but the this track features one of my favorite beats and highlights a slowed down flow from both. Skepta, and Lil Durk also appear on the album and shine on their features. The second half of this album is where the true shine is particularly the last quarter of the album showcases his lyrical ability and slowed down flow on an these beautiful minimalistic beats getting away from the traditional UK drill sound.

Again however the album is not perfect, and definitely suffers from gluttony, as several track could’ve been left off to trim the fat. This album suffered in a way from the success of ‘Doja’ in a way where it feels like Central Cee is trying to copy that song formula to a tee at points. This leads to sequence of songs in the first half that sound quite repetitive where Central Cee gets stuck in this flow. I personally can’t stand this overly syllable stuffed flow where it feels like Central is trying to fit the longest run on sentences in history into the flow of these overly produced drill beats. The Lil Baby, and 21 Savage featured songs are also a dud for me. Both are attempts for a stateside hit and both fail to find a good blend of the differing sounds from all respective artists.

Overall, I was truly surprised by this album. This album exceeded my expectations, and truly showcased an artist with major potential. Yes, the sound and flows get repetitive and at times can cause headaches from trying listening to Centrals struggle to find the right flow at times. However, Central did deliver on some real gems here, and showed at least an attempt to expand his sound. No, they were not all great attempts, and several such as ‘Gata’ could’ve been left off, but there were enough of these experimental records that worked. The second half of this album truly shines as Central gets away from the sped up drill records and instead appears to realize less is more at times in terms of production. In the end this album is a great stepping stone for Central Cee, and turned out to be a real gem of an album.

Rating 7.1/10