‘GBP’ is the first major collaboration between London’s Central Cee, or Cench, and Atlanta’s 21 Savage, blending their respective musical influences into a seamless, fluid track. 

Cench brings his signature melodic flow, introspective lyrics, and catchy hooks – which have a history of catapulting to global, viral sensations such as ‘Doja’ and ‘Sprinter’. Savage complements this with his relaxed, gritty delivery and sharp wordplay with lyrics such as “Latex gloves, I’m on a drill, watch ‘em fall, Jack and Jill”. 

Throughout the track, both rappers reflect on their humble beginnings and the challenges they’ve faced. Lyrics like “So distraught, we were broke as hell, well, until we broke the law” highlight their shared ability to turn personal struggles into compelling narratives. The single weaves themes of ambition, resilience, and success, central to the Rap and Hip-Hop genre, with clever metaphors such as “That’s GBP, the price go up if it’s USD”.

It also delves into topics of loyalty and cultural identity with Central Cee referencing UK rap culture through “Red carpet in my trackie and Air Max, they want a boy with a London style”, hinting at his viral moment at the 2022 British Fashion Awards. Meanwhile, Savage adds his iconic swagger, referencing his “Internet beef” with Soulja Boy with “Better watch your words, I’ll get you X’d ‘bout the s*** you tweet (On God)”. 

This interplay highlights Central Cee as a pioneer for UK rap. Following his performance of ‘BAND4BAND’ Atlanta’s Lil Baby at Rolling Loud Festival last year, ‘GBP’ cements his position as a trailblazer for transatlantic rap collaborations.

The music video reinforces this narrative with striking visuals, including a British flag serving as a symbolic backdrop and recurring red cars that subtly nod to London’s iconic red buses. The video not only complements the song’s themes but also emphasises the importance of music videos in the industry – enhancing storytelling and increasing global visibility. Additionally, the integration of bold and creative fashion, an industry closely linked with Hip-Hop culture, demonstrates the evolution of modern rap aesthetics.

With the release of ‘GBP’, Central Cee and 21 Savage delivered a standout collaboration, bridging two distinct rap cultures through music and visuals. As Central Cee prepares to release his highly anticipated debut album, ‘GBP’ offers an exciting glimpse into the innovative direction he is taking.

This year is no different from the last, seeing a star-studded selection of rappers from both sides of the Atlantic. Phase one of Wireless’ line up was announced today via the festival’s official Instagram. 2024’s event poster gives considerable weight to female rappers, both new and old. After exploding in popularity in 2022 after her single ‘Munch’, Bronx rapper, Ice Spice will be playing on the festival’s opening night alongside Trinidadian mega-star Nicki Minaj.

Known for her risqué lyrics, Up-and-coming Missourian rapper Sexyy Red will also be performing at Wireless. Finding her audience after Cardi B’s and Megan Thee Stallion’s WAP created an industry niche for tongue-in-cheek, sexually charged, female-led, rap music, Sexxy Red capitalised on this sub-genre, finding success with her 2023 single ‘Pound Town’.

Saturday the 14th of July will see LA rapper and singer Doja Cat headline the night. After her breakout YouTube single ‘Mooo!’, which currently has 129m views, Doja Cat has continued to make a name for herself through a steady stream of popular releases and her outlandish costume designs. Off the back of her fourth studio album, Scarlet, released in November of last year, Doja Cat has secured herself a top spot at London’s biggest music festival.

Wireless’ Saturday will be host to British-born Atlanta rapper 21 Savage. 21 Savage became widely known after his 2016 feature on XXL Magazine’s freshman cypher alongside, then upcoming rappers, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, Kodak Black, and Denzel Curry. Since his 2016 breakout, 21 Savage has gone on to release three studio albums, as well as three collaborative albums with Offset, Metro Boomin, and Drake. Fellow Atlanta rapper, Future will also be performing on the event’s Friday show. Known for his pioneering contributions to the American trap scene, Future remains one of the biggest names in the genre.

Although the setlist features only a couple of UK artists so far, with Digga D and J Hus joining the line up, Festival Republic is yet to announce the full line up, the second phase of which will be released next week. Early bird tickets for the festival will go live on January 31st at 10am. For those with either a Three Mobile or Barclay Card rewards scheme, a special pre-sale is currently available until an hour before the general ticket sale date.

The UK-born Atlanta-based rapper announced the show via social media, showcasing childhood photos from his youth living in London, soundtracked to Skylar Grey’s “Coming Home”. The video in the post concluded with the words: “London, I’m coming home”. Drake has hinted towards making an appearance by making a comment underneath the post by simply responding: “*We’re.”

The 02 Arena show is a one-off show that isn’t a part of any specific tour for the rapper. Opening support for the show will be provided by Baby Drill and 21 Harold. The ticket pre-sale will be held on Wednesday, October 11^th at 9am, whilst general presale will be open on Friday, October 13^th. Tickets can be found here.

21 SAVAGE HOMECOMING
THE O2
NOV. 30 pic.twitter.com/wDU32Fl3WS

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) October 9, 2023

The announcement for 21 Savage’s first show follows the news that the rapper has been declared a “lawful permanent resident” of the United States and is able to freely travel around the world, including to his native United Kingdom. 21 Savage was touring for Drake’s “It’s All A Blur” tour, but was unable to join him for shows outside of the United States until very recently as a result of immigration complications dating back to 2005.

21 Savage (real name: Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph), has been fighting a four year legal battle since 2019, as he was arrested for immigrating to the United States and overstaying his Visa, having arrived in the country in 2000 when he was 7 years old. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested unlawfully present United Kingdom national Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph AKA ‘21 Savage’ during a targeted operation with federal and local law enforcement partners early Sunday in metro Atlanta,” were the words of ICE spokesperson Brian Cox at the time of arrest, however Savage’s lawyer at the time exclaimed: “We are working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding,”

The investigation concluded that Savage had immigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States from the age of 7 in 2000, but then returned to the United Kingdom for his uncle’s funeral in 2005, aged 12, without any knowledge that his visa would expire in 2006. Savage would attempt to renew his visa in 2017 after learning it was a legal requirement.

Knowing that they’d have to make the landing, the pilot of the plane circled around the New York area for a few hours, to burn fuel. They were then forced to land at New York Stewart International Airport, with fire and ambulance crews called, before the plane safely made it’s landing at around 9pm UK time last night.

Malone has taken to Twitter to give thanks to his fans for their support during a doubtlessly stressful affair, as well as to criticise his detractors who wished the worst on him during the incident.

i landed guys. thank you for your prayers. can’t believe how many people wished death on me on this website. fuck you. but not today

— Beerbongs & Bentleys (@PostMalone) August 21, 2018

Malone performed alongside Aerosmith at MTV’s Video Music Awards on Monday, where he also took home the prize for Song of the Year, for his track Rockstar, which also featured 21 Savage. Malone was flying to the UK as he is scheduled to play Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend, which is being headlined by Kings of Leon, Fall out Boy, and Kendrick Lamar this year.

In the lead up to this album, Post released the single ‘Rockstar’ featuring 21 Savage, with reached number 1 in the UK singles chart, and went 2x platinum, selling over 1,000,000 copies.

beerbongs and bentleys has already gone platinum in Post’s native USA, selling over 1,000,000 copies in the space of just three days, which is a huge testament to how huge he has become in 3 years. It boasts huge features from artists like Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy and Swae Lee as well.

His new album has also broken streaming records as well, as the 18 songs on the album were streamed just under 79,000,000 times worldwide in just the first day of its release according to Spotify.

The record was initially set by J Cole’s new album KOD just a week before, but Post Malone received over 10,000,000 more first day streams than the North Carolina rapper.

Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Post Malone is now a worldwide superstar, and he has an enormous fan base that are incredibly dedicated and passionate about his music.