The British are notoriously bad at bothering to learn other languages – and even listening to them. Across Europe, music fans are used to enjoying tracks even if they can’t understand the lyrics, but this has rarely been the case in the UK, where we do not often deviate from English-language pop. Even Bad Bunny, who was the most streamed artist on Spotify globally between 2020 and 2022, has never really been embraced by the British.
But while British listeners are mostly ignoring multilingual music, British rappers aren’t. Central Cee, currently the UK scene’s biggest name, has been seizing on bilingual collaborations as he courts a global market: back in 2022 he put out Eurovision, a posse track featuring seven rappers from across the EU – including frequent Italian collaborator Rondodasosa – and last year he featured on Eurostar by French MC Ninho which reached No 1 in France. In the past few weeks he’s put out two more tracks: Bolide Noir with Parisian JRK 19, and Moi with British singer Raye, who delivers most of her hook in French.
Central Cee’s collaborator and countryman Dave has also got in on the act, putting out two tracks in 2023 with another Parisian rapper, Tiakola, which celebrated their global ties: “I’m in the 16th arrondissement with a bad B and we listen to Booba / I’m with the Senegalese, Ivorian and I’m with the Congolese, Nigerian / Marseille and it’s all Algerians,” Dave raps on Special, later closing with a jab at Islamophobia and France’s government.
Croydon rapper Pozer’s debut single Kitchen Stove came out this year, and he has since recorded a track with Dutch rapper Lusho; in 2022, drill figurehead Headie One put out the mixtape No Borders with European artists on each track. Humorous and frequently lecherous Mancunian rapper Aitch first had Italian rapper Shiva feature on a remix to his 2019 hit Taste, and has since been one of the UK artists most given to multilingual tracks, including three collaborations with one of Germany’s biggest stars, Luciano. “My manager was born in Germany so he’s always had his ear to German artists in general, and then Luciano must have rated my music,” he says. “It was just: OK, let’s go see what Germany’s about.”
Bamba, their 2022 track with US rapper Bia, duly went to No 1 in Germany. “Some people don’t understand what I’m saying, what Luciano’s saying, what Bia’s saying, but they feel the music,” Aitch says. After the success of his 2022 single Baby with Ashanti, he had Belgium’s Hamza and Sweden’s Greekazo feature on the track’s remixes. “We just thought: let’s attack Europe again … It’s just nice to open up new markets. When you get to a certain level, you start to realise that if you’re only looking at the UK, there’s kind of a ceiling over your head.”
France is obsessed with rap – nine of the tracks in this week’s Top 10 are by rappers or rap-inflected singers – and Germany’s music market is now the fourth largest globally, where the most popular genre is rap. But collaborations in these countries aren’t just cold business decisions for UK rappers, they are good for creative energy, Aitch says: “You take from different cultures and different vibes, and it just creates something that can’t even be explained unless you experience it.”
His Belgian collaborator Hamza, his whose most recent album Sincèrement featured a collaboration with US star Offset, agrees. “It’s not important for me to ‘get big’ in the US or other markets,” he says. “If it’s happening, it’s cool. But working with different artists from different countries, it’s already something special for me.” He identifies social media as playing “a big part in it, because it’s not only French artists who’s getting known, its Nigerian, Moroccan, South African artists. Language barriers are disappearing and it’s a good thing for artists and music in general.”
So, while post-Brexit UK governments fret over how to engage with the rest of the continent, UK rap seems much less worried. Despite the patronage of some of the UK’s biggest stars, these collaborative tracks are still being ignored by UK listeners – none of the aforementioned multinational songs have reached the UK Top 40. But Aitch remains confident about them nonetheless. “It will keep happening anyway, and course it will get bigger. The more people work together, the music’s gonna do better, and reach new places it’s not been before.”
