Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Britain is the second-largest exporter of music after the US. But one of its most vibrant genres, UK rap, has a comparatively low profile abroad. No rapper has come close to matching the international success of the Sheerans and Dua Lipas of UK pop. Stormzy, for instance, is a big name in his homeland, but his chart success has been modest overseas and non-existent in the US. Can Central Cee make the breakthrough? The west Londoner — Shepherd’s Bush, to be precise — became the first UK rapper to be streamed annually over 1bn times on Spotify in 2022. That was when he released one of his biggest hits, “Doja”. It is famous, or infamous, for Cee’s catchily phrased but logically questionable claim that he can’t be homophobic because his girlfriend is bisexual (I paraphrase). “Sprinter” was an even bigger hit, a 2023 collaboration with fellow UK rapper Dave named after a type of van. This roomy vehicle, we are told by the two leads, is required in order to transport their numerous female admirers. Topping the UK singles chart for 10 weeks, it is the most streamed UK rap song on Spotify ever.Both hits have a particularly British flavour. Their wealth worship and sexism are closer in spirit to crude laddish banter than the dog-eat-dog one-upmanship of US rap. The musical style is a softened version of UK drill, a sub-genre that originated in Chicago but found a home in London.Drill has proved the most exportable of Britain’s rap variants, with even a foothold in the US. But it has kept its outsider status. A culture of violence has impeded its commercial development — with the exception of Central Cee.The rapper (real name Oakley Caesar-Su) has managed to shift drill’s sound and imagery into pop-rap. Can’t Rush Greatness is his debut studio album. It opens with “No Introduction”, in which Cee boasts about his international reach, rhyming “Sweden” with “Indonesian”. He also complains that “girls still ask what my name is” even though they recognise him. This doesn’t really make sense. But it illustrates the album’s portrait of its maker as a superstar who is also an underdog.Like the Union Jack bandanna that Cee sports on the cover, Can’t Rush Greatness has a strong Team GB aspect. “Ten” is a lively grime throwback with Skepta, one of the most significant MCs to take British hip-hop into the charts. But the album is also designed to crack the previously impervious US market.Whereas Cee’s 2022 mixtape 23 had a posse-cut song called “Eurovision” featuring rappers from throughout Europe, this time the guests are predominantly transatlantic. “GBP” is a double act with London-born, Atlanta-raised rap star 21 Savage. Like Forex traders, he and Cee talk about GBP and USD. For once, pound sterling holds its own against the mighty dollar: Cee and 21 Savage are treated as equals.Puerto Rican singer-rapper Young Miko turns up on “Gata”, performing in Spanish. Meanwhile, Cee raps about reclining in a Maybach luxury car, a status symbol in US rap. But he also jokes about saving money by not ordering an Uber for his female companion as she lives in far-flung Croydon, a byword for prosaic London life. The juxtaposition provides a comical jolt, as if the Maybach were going over a speed bump in a 20mph residential zone.Musically, the song synthesises Young Miko’s reggaeton vocal with the staccato bassline of UK drill. It is a neatly executed example of glocalisation, placing a specific locale in a global context. “Top Freestyle” brings out the social dimension of the same contrast. Cee raps about being in a “trap” house where the drug trade is conducted just before receiving an invitation to a starry July fourth party in the Hamptons. He also makes a sharp (albeit perspectively muddled) observation about music industry amorality: “Label execs don’t care if we’re murderers long as your catalogue’s bringing in revenue.”The shift from “we” to “your” discloses an artfully vague position towards drill’s association with crime. “Band4band”, with US rapper Lil Baby, echoes the sound of a bloodthirsty drill anthem, SR’s memorably chilling “Welcome to Brixton”. But although Cee raps about previously selling drugs and warns that “guns will shoot” if he gets challenged, his verses are not at all bloodthirsty. In his usage, the initial “M” — a shorthand for “murder” in road rap and drill — denotes “millions” of pounds.Cee’s mild flirtation with outlawry marks him out as a contemporary version of an archetypal figure, stretching back in pop to Elvis Presley — the photogenic bad boy. A charismatic presence at the microphone, with a lilting London accent, he ranks as phonogenic too. But limitations emerge. Although he varies pace effectively, his verbal flow gets repetitive. The musical content lacks the spark of “Doja” or “Sprinter” and the rags-to-riches reiterations acquire a cut-and-paste feel. His album is carefully engineered to maximise his profile, but its storytelling runs out of steam. Can’t Rush Greatness will prove more notable for the moment it represents in the burgeoning history of UK rap than its own lasting qualities.★★★☆☆‘Can’t Rush Greatness’ is released by CC4L/Columbia
