CAN'T RUSH GREATNESS by Central Cee: Album Review
The album’s central British identity is both a highlight and a setback
The UK’s current poster child for rap is Central Cee. He’s experienced a bit of a popularity surge in the last year, alongside fellow UK drill rapper Dave, who he features on many of his tracks.
That boost came with his first official studio album, CAN’T RUSH GREATNESS. (all caps). I went into this album really wanting to like it, especially since I enjoyed GBP, its most recently released single (I did not really care for BAND4BAND.) This album does have a few highs, but it’s not erratic like some other recent releases because it stays relatively forgettable throughout. It’s an entertaining listen, but it’s by no means anything I’d have on repeat.
I think the flow is where Central Cee shines through most on this project. He (and I think UK drill as a genre) became popular off of smooth, silky delivery of catchy bars that is by no means absent on this project. At some points, he does get a little lazy with his writing to preserve his flow: on the title track “No Introduction,” he kind of just starts naming random countries to preserve his rhyme scheme and it sounds kind of odd.
Tryna pretend they don't know who Cee is, like
Like anytime I get on the mic, it don't cover a hundred regions
Sweden, Norwegian, New Zealand, Australian, Arab, Armenian, even Asia and Indonesian
And I think that last bar acts as a bit of a microcosm for one of the big problems in his lyricism through the whole album. He offers quite a few compelling one-liners, but the verses don’t feel cohesive since his mind and pen seem to jump from subject to subject randomly, as if he’s rattling off thousands of jumbled thoughts crossing his mind at once. In the same verse in “5 Star,” for example, he immediately transitions from
And free all the guys inside of the cage, uh
to
I need a bitch that's bougie and don't give bruddas the time of day
Which is a change that’s jarring and unexpected, reducing the emotional weight of the first line, which he contextualizes by talking about his unexpected loss at the BRIT awards.
But apart from the odd lyricism, the flow on many of these tracks is still quite enjoyable when you’re able to tune out the writing itself to a certain extent. That’s probably what makes “GBP” with 21 Savage one of the highlights of the album, given that 21 Savage is also notable for his smooth flow and delivery. The production—which we’ll discuss in detail later—unfortunately fails to diversify itself from the rest of the album, but the song is well-carried by the performances of both Savage and Cench.
Looking at the writing, it’s just a song about money (“GBP” is mentioned as well as “USD”) but does include some clever wordplay (“Better watch your words, I'll get you X'd 'bout the shit you tweet”). I think this is also one of those proudly UK-centric songs: it mentions the Premier League, the BRITs, and its first line references British gun control policy in quite a funny way: “If it weren’t the UK, would've had a AK-47 with a hundred rounds.”
I’d also say that this is a really Gen Z album, (FYI, I wrote this paragraph before remembering that one of the songs is literally called “Gen Z Love”) and not so in the corny way that Eminem tries to talk about. “Top Freestyle” has lines that mention Central Cee getting “the ick,” him saying “Plus one thousand aura, even if I don't talk, they'll feel our vibe,” and him just declaring “I'm nonchalant, not shy.” This doesn’t move the needle much for me, it’s just a little bit unexpected to see all this brainrot making its way into a mainstream album.
It’s probably also necessary to address why I say “BAND4BAND” isn’t too good of a track. I think Lil Baby’s somewhat raspy (?) electronic voice does not mesh well with Central Cee, who’s more than anything defined by his smoothness. The production is also unimpactful, especially for pop song standards. It’s very standard and unvaried.
Now’s probably a good time to talk a little more about than production, then, which I think is the lowest point about this album. This isn’t the fault of any one individual producer, and it’s not to say that any of these beats are bad. It’s unfortunately just that this album is probably the most repetitive project I’ve seen in the past year in terms of its beat selection. UK drill is unfortunately not the most diverse genre in terms of the style of beats that it typically uses. The same instruments typically dominate the sounds of most UK drill instrumentals, and as a result most of the songs on this album are pretty much indistinguishable from one another.
Each song on this project can be summarized by the one, singular element the production adds to differentiate it from the last track. We have “standard UK drill beat,” “standard UK drill beat with the Spanish vocals,” “standard UK drill beat with the orchestral backing,” “standard UK drill beat with the weird synths,” you get the point. Many of these songs start with a unique instrumental, but the same instruments are re-introduced to rob them of their uniqueness. There’s a certain point where less is more, and keeping the beats more bare-bones rather than forcing them all into the same formula would help set them apart.
This is part of what makes songs like the titular track “CRG” featuring Dave the most memorable on the album. The slower-paced beat is unique in the sea of increasingly uniform production, and it’s a great breath of fresh air to not hear the same beat pattern for the 11th song in a row. I think Cench’s flow alone helps this album maintain its UK identity, and that’s really obvious on “Ten” with Skepta, which has two legends of the UK rap game over a beat that’s not egregiously repetitive considering the rest of the album. But it still feels more genre-defining than any other song on the album, and it’s probably the project’s strongest track.
I do like that this album is not afraid about its British identity, though, I just really wish it showed it more through other means than production. “Must Be” samples a voice line from what I’d guess is the UK metro (“The Tube” as it’s called across the pond). Central Cee’s discussion of his upbringing in “Don’t Know Anymore,” where describes his beginnings in London and the American hip-hop influences in his early life to paint a vivid picture of his rise to greatness.
There’s been at least three albums in the past year (like 21 Savage’s american dream and Lil Baby’s WHAM, which I just reviewed) that close with an introspective, emotional song after 10-plus braggadocious other tracks that just flex money and women. I don’t hate it, but diminishing returns are certainly kicking in after american dream’s “dark days,” which I think accomplished this with the greatest emotional weight.
But I do think that this final song previews some of Central Cee’s songwriting ability that wasn’t really able to shine through with the rest of the album. I think aside from production, which is more easily fixable by just making different beat selection choices, this is Central Cee’s last remaining shortcoming before a shot at total stardom. If he can replicate the kind of emotion he carries in this final track and balance it against the healthy arrogance that he seems able to pull off, that certainly would be the growth he needs.
For now, though, we’re stuck with an album that feels more like an appetizer than anything. Entertaining in small bites, a little uncomfortable when overconsumed, but more than anything a lucid reminder that more is to come.
Miscellaneous Thoughts That Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else:
Lil Durk pretty much ruined “Truth In The Lies”
“Gen Z Luv” is honestly not bad of a commentary
“Top Freestyle,” absent the repetition of the production on this album, probably has the hardest beat of the project
I thought the vocals in the intro of “Don’t Know Anymore” was Adele. It’s not.
Ratings:
No Introduction: 7/10
5 Star: 6/10
GATA: 7/10
St Patrick’s: 6/10
GBP: 8/10
Top Freestyle: 7/10
Up North: 6/10
CRG: 8/10
Limitless: 6/10
Now We’re Strangers: 6/10
Truth In The Lies: 4/10
Ten: 9/10
BAND4BAND: 6/10
Gen Z Luv: 7/10
Walk in Wardrobe: 7/10
Must Be: 7/10
Don’t Know Anymore: 7/10
Best:
Ten
CRG
GBP
Worst: Truth In The Lies
Final Rating: 6.7/10