Rolling Loud Toronto

To make the U.K. to North America crossover core fans and Central Cee think can happen, requires work, not just on the music but the audience.

“Loading” and “Doja” his biggest tracks, produced the biggest crowd pops but independent of Cee. During the bpm bump, Olympic rings formed in the crowd only to become totally enveloped by their creators jumping and shouting the lyrics over Central Cee’s vocals. Even a song like “Commitment Issues” where Cee asks “Where the ladies at?” before playing, sent people bouncing off each other during the hook. Despite the massive crowd that gathered for Central Cee’s performance in the evening, it rarely dawns upon Cee to engage with them. The sliding 808s of “Tension,” “Little Bit of This” and “Retail Therapy” buzz through the entire crowd but instead of creating a roiling, the speaker’s buzz resonates among listeners like a tuning fork. But those casuals are nonplussed, especially when Central Cee took half of “Overseas” off to drink a bottle of water. Continuing to pace the stage and shouting his lyrics, “Khabib” plays, another deep cut. Finally, after the first few seconds of “Day in the Life,” Central Cee clad in a Tracy McGrady Raptors shirzee, sunglasses and a backwards hat, steps out to a roar. Showing up early for the Cee performance, I was able to get close enough to make it past the first set of barriers while people were leaving the Bia show. Starting with “Day in the Life” kindled the crowd but diving into deeper cuts immediately showed misunderstanding. In waiting for Central Cee on Friday night at Rolling Loud at Ontario Place, his DJ does some of the best crowd work of the entire set. The body covering tattoos, the wavy hair, the charming smile, all shine through the screen but the closer you get to him the dimmer that shine becomes.