Who is British rapper Central Cee, aka Oakley Caesar-Su? The drill music star worked with Drake and BTS’ Jungkook, dated TikTokker Madeline Argy, and has deals with Nike and Tommy Hilfiger
- Raised in west London, Central Cee – also known as Cench – was inspired by Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar; now he collaborates with Drake, BTS’ Jungkook and The Kid Laroi
- The 25-year-old has broken UK rap records and shows off his Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Fendi, Nike and Jacquemus looks online – but does he also secretly have his own streetwear brand?
Despite appearances Central Cee is, by his own admission, an introvert: “I don’t go out of my way to make people want to talk about me,” he told Vogue earlier this year. “If it was up to me I’d just be living under a rock.”
But it’s too late to undo his success now. In the process of breaking into the US – a notoriously difficult thing to do for British artists – and with a string of collaborations and luxury brand endorsements already under his belt, it seems he’s about to go stellar whether he likes it or not.
So who is the 25-year-old rapper with the chiselled, boyish good looks and new-found international fame?
Does Central Cee have Chinese heritage?
Central Cee, also known as Cench, grew up in a part of west London where gangs and drug dealers live side by side with some of city’s wealthiest residents. With an English mother and a Chinese-Guyanese father who split when he was just seven, per Vogue, he says one of his earliest memories was being driven around in his then homeless father’s van listening to everything from rap to reggae and dance hall, according to Vice.
It was only later that he’d come to admire commercial artists like Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar, he told The Guardian. Forbes states that his real name is Oakley Neil H T Caesar-Su.
What is Central Cee’s musical style?
