Oakley Neil Caesar-Su[4] (born 4 June 1998), known professionally as Central Cee, is a British rapper and songwriter from Shepherd's Bush, London.[1] He rose to prominence in 2020 with the release of the singles "Day in the Life" and "Loading".[5] His first mixtape Wild West was released on 12 March 2021, which debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart.[6] His second mixtape 23 was released on 25 February 2022 and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart.

Central Cee achieved further success with his single "Doja" in July 2022, which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and eventually became the most streamed UK rap song on Spotify.[7][8] He released his first major-label EP No More Leaks in October 2022.[9] In June 2023, he released the single "Sprinter" with Dave, which became his first UK number-one single and preceded their collaborative EP Split Decision.[10] The single also became the longest-running number-one rap song in the UK, holding the position for 10 weeks.[11]

Oakley Neil Caesar-Su was born on 4 June 1998 in Ladbroke Grove, London to an Irish mother and a Guyanese father with Chinese ancestry.[12] His mother Rachel Caesar met his father at age 15 and began dating him against her parents' wishes, subsequently getting cut off financially.[13] When Caesar-Su was seven, his parents separated and he began living with his mother and two younger brothers in Shepherd's Bush. He has an additional half-brother.[14][12] One of his brothers is Juke Caesar, who appeared on the 23 mixtape under the name "Lil Bro".[15] As a child, Caesar-Su would write poetry and raps, which he would then show to his mother and social worker.[16]

When Caesar-Su visited his father, he would be shown American hip-hop.[17] He would also be exposed to reggae and dancehall when he attended Notting Hill Carnival.[18] Caesar-Su has stated that he kept to himself in school, but would occasionally misbehave and lose his temper. He went to the same school as rapper Digga D, being 2 years his senior.[19] Caesar-Su left school at age 16.[20]

At age 14, he was kicked out of his mother's home and temporarily moved in with his girlfriend's family. Caesar-Su began recording music around this time after being inspired by a friend who took him to a recording studio.[12][21] He worked at a shoe store for three weeks before finding out his wage and quitting.[22] Caesar-Su eventually turned to selling drugs to earn money, stating, "When you're coming from where I'm coming from, everybody from all walks of life, nine times out of 10, they had to do that. It's like learning to ride a bike."[13]

Caesar-Su made an early public appearance on a now-deleted episode of Charlie Sloth's Fire in the Streets series in 2014, where he adopted the rapper name "Central Cee" (first listed as Central C).[5] His first song appearance was on the "Ain't On Nuttin Remix" alongside J Hus and more in January 2015.[23] He released his "StreetHeat Freestyle" in February of the same year.[24] In 2015, Central Cee appeared on music platform BL@CKBOX and performed verses to Tupac instrumentals alongside MoWest.[25] In February 2016, Central Cee was featured alongside Dave and others on the remix to the song "Spirit Bomb" by AJ Tracey.[26] He later released the single "Pull Up" in August 2016.[27] Central Cee released his first projects, the EP 17, and the now-deleted EPs Nostalgia and CS Vol. 1 in 2017.[28][29][30] His "Next Up?" freestyle was released in October 2019, following a number of singles that released that year.[31][25]

Central Cee met his future manager YBeeez in 2019, who encouraged him to pursue music further.[32] After switching from auto-tuned hip hop to a style similar to UK drill, Central Cee released his breakout single "Day in the Life" on 14 June 2020. He followed it up with "Molly" in July, and achieved further success with the single "Loading", released on 22 October 2020. The music videos for the three tracks were released by GRM Daily.[33] "Loading" and February 2021's "Commitment Issues" both reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.[34][35] Central Cee self-released his debut mixtape Wild West in March 2021, which debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the UK R&B Albums Chart.[6]

In September 2021,[36] the single "Obsessed with You" reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart,[6] and would become the lead single to his second mixtape, 23, announced in November 2021.[37] Central Cee's Daily Duppy was released on Christmas of 2021.[38] The second and third singles from the mixtape, "Retail Therapy" and "Cold Shoulder", were released on 6 and 27 January 2022.[36][39] On 25 February 2022, 23 was released and became his first number one on the UK Albums Chart.[40][41]

Following previews at concerts and on social media, his single "Doja" released on 21 July 2022 alongside a music video directed by Cole Bennett.[42] It became his highest charting song of his career, debuting at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[43] The song also reached number 12 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[44] On 14 October 2022, Central Cee surprise released his EP No More Leaks, which was supported by the single "One Up" which released the day before.[45] On 16 December 2022, he released the single "Let Go", which samples the Passenger single "Let Her Go" and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.[46] In 2022, Central Cee became the first UK rapper to achieve 1 billion Spotify streams in a single year.[47] On 9 February 2023, he released the single "Me & You".[48]

On 1 June 2023, Central Cee and Dave released the joint single "Sprinter".[49] It was the lead single to their collaborative EP Split Decision, which was surprise-released on 4 June. "Sprinter" became Central Cee's first number-one single, and broke the record for the biggest streaming week for a rap song in UK history.[10][50] The single also broke the record for the longest running number-one rap single in the UK.[51] In late June, Central Cee appeared on XXL magazine's 2023 Freshman Class.[52] Days later, it was announced that he had signed to Columbia Records.[53] On 21 July, Central Cee released his "On the Radar Freestyle" with Drake.[54] The track debuted at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first song to reach the chart.[55]On 20 October, Central Cee was featured on a song alongside Australian rapper The Kid LAROI and Korean pop star Jungkook called "Too Much".[56]On 21 December 2023, Central Cee released the single "Entrapaneur".[57]

On 11 February 2024, he released the single "I Will".[58] On 5 April 2024, he appeared on J. Cole's surprise mixtape Might Delete Later on the track "H.Y.B" alongside Bas.[59] In May 2024, he released a grime song on YouTube titled "CC Freestyle". On 23 May, he released the track "Band4Band" alongside Lil Baby.[60][61] The track debuted at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his highest entry on the latter. Two weeks later, the track reached number 18 on the Hot 100.[62][63] On 20 June 2024, he appeared on the joint track "Wave" with Nigerian singer Asake.[64][65] On 11 July 2024, Central Cee featured on Ice Spice’s single "Did It First".[66] The track’s rollout sparked controversy and unsound dating rumors between the two.[67] Central Cee followed this up with the single “Gen Z Luv” on 26 July.[68] In the song’s music video, his forthcoming album Can’t Rush Greatness was announced.[69]

Central Cee is known for his style of fashion which usually features tracksuits, puffer jackets, and skull caps, items commonly associated with British streetwear culture.[70][71][72]

In 2023, Central Cee launched the streetwear brand Syna World. The brand's guerrilla marketing techniques have been compared to fellow UK brands such as Corteiz and Trapstar.[73][74] He collaborated with the football club Paris-Saint-Germain to make a custom kit in September 2024.[75] In October 2024, Central Cee and Syna World collaborated with Nike to release a Tech Fleece tracksuit and Air Max 95's. It was put on sale on JD Sports and the Nike website.[76][77]

Central Cee made his modeling debut for Drake's Nike X Nocta collection on 6 April 2021.[78] He fronted Jaquemus' "Neve World" campaign in November 2022.[79][80]

Beginning his career performing British hip-hop, Central Cee switched to the trapwave genre in 2016, a style of British hip hop which utilizes auto-tuned singing. In 2020, Central Cee moved to a style similar to UK drill with the release of the single "Day in the Life", and has mostly stuck to that style since then, stating that the auto-tune style was oversaturated.[81] His current style of music has been described as a melodic and upbeat approach to UK drill.[82] Central Cee studied rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Jay-Z as a young adult and named YoungBoy Never Broke Again as one of his influences, comparing his approach to the rapper.[13]

"There’s a lot of people that will testify that he’s shit because there’s no science to his thing, musically. What I think sells is his personality and his vulnerability in the music. Actually, that probably influenced me a lot."[13]

Central Cee dated Madeline Argy, a TikTok creator and host of the Pretty Lonesome podcast, for over two years. Their relationship ended in July 2024.[83]

Albums

Mixtapes