Music
Aitch's rapid rise in 10 tracks
The fresh-faced Mancunian rapper has gone from spitting bars on the pavement to topping the charts. Here's how he did it.
A combination of quick wit, tight flows and an added dose of cheeky, boyish charm have seen Aitch championed by everyone from Stormzy to Ed Sheeran.
He spent 2019 staring down the rest of the UK rap scene with his baby-blue eyes, and kicked off 2020 with the same laconic demeanour that's captivated a swelling fanbase of high schoolers and famous admirers.
With a bright future paved out ahead of him, we're tracing the bold steps he's taken so far.
1. Straight Rhymez 1
A low-budget freestyle video filmed by his house and packed with punchlines. Remind you of anybody? The track was enough to catch the ears of the UK rap scene's tastemakers, and Aitch's trajectory has been on the up ever since.
2. Daily Duppy Freestyle
Aitch swaggers into the frame, spits an effortless two and a half minutes, them saunters out with all the confidence of someone who's got the scene eating out of the palm of his hand.
3. Trust Me
Having proven his chops on the freestyle circuit, Aitch delivered up his first street anthem in the form of Trust Me. One telling line? "I ain't famous... yet." You'd be a fool not to take his word for it.
4. Taste (Make It Shake)
Channelling US club rap of the type that might be cooked up by DJ Mustard and Tyga -- but with a thick Mancunian drawl -- Taste represented Aitch's first concerted assault on the charts. The track peaked at number two and hung around for another 19 weeks.
5. Buss Down (feat. ZieZie)
This highlight from the AitcH2O EP twins ZieZie's penchant for effortless, silky hooks with Aitch's glottal-stopped flows. Buss Down has all the hallmarks of what homegrown UK chart music has morphed into over the past half decade.
6. Pop Boy (with Stormzy)
Not many MCs can claim a spot on a number-one charting album within a year of first breaking through but, having already taken him under his wing, Stormzy invited Aitch onto the mile-a-minute Heavy Is The Head highlight -- with dazzling results.
7. Ei8ht Mile (with DigDat)
Aitch and UK drill favourite DigDat go toe-to-toe on this homage to the rap battles immortalised in Eminem's Eight Mile. Under eerie strip lighting, the two young barrers toss lyrics back and forth while the likes of DJ Target, Jaykae, K Trap and Avelino look on. There's no picking a winner here though.
8. MICE
With a beat that channels Timbaland in his prime, flows that skip all over the place, and a video that recalls the casual, low-stakes approach that gave his earliest material their charm, MICE is about as good a representation of what Aitch is about.
9. Rain (with AJ Tracey)
Snapping up one of Drake's go-to producers and sparring on the beat with Ladbroke Grove's AJ Tracey, Aitch brings his Mancunian swagger to City Of Angels. The track blew up on TikTok too, securing its status as a global hit.
10. 30
Lifted from the Polaris EP -- a follow-up to 2019's AitcH20 --30 sees Aitch link up with another US producer, Kenny Beats, to spin a squelchy instrumental with more quips and barbs.
Now watch Manchester clash Glasgow in Grime-A-Side 2018:
6 min
Grime-A-Side 2017: Manchester v Glasgow
Rappers from Manchester, XP, Ragoloco, and Fiascoo compete against the rappers from Glasgow Chrissy Grimez, Ransom FA, and Sherlock battling each other in Red Bull Grime-A-Side in London
Follow Red Bull Music UK on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter @RedBullMusicUK