10 UK Grime Rappers To Listen In 2023

UK Grime rappers include Central Cee whose real name is Oakley Neil H.T. Caesar-Su. The rapper is currently a popular import of UK Grime.

Though the 24-year-old has been rapping since 2014, he gained prominence in the UK in 2020, with the release of two singles: Day in the Life and Loading. 

However, across the pond, the rapper became famous through his song, Doja, and especially its hilarious opening lines.

Born and brought up in London, Cee was raised in a very musical environment as he learned about American Hip-Hop through his father, and was inundated with reggae and dancehall through exposure to the Notting Hill Carnival.

Cee’s music showcases his eclectic taste as the rapper’s beats are often a mishmash of old-school pop beats that have been grime-ified, for lack of a better term.

The rapper’s hilarious lyrics, stylish beats, and eccentric attitude make for an interesting persona. Central Cee is sure to be one of the most talked about UK rappers in the coming years, and one to watch out for.

Jme is one of the most respected UK Grime rappers currently in the game. The rapper’s real name is Jamie Adenuga.

While initially starting out making mobile phone ringtones in the 2000s, Jme started transitioning to making Grime beats as he experimented with different programming software like Fruity Loops, Logic Studio, and Pro Tools. 

The rapper released his first album, Famous? through his own label, Boy Better Know, on July 14, 2008, and despite not charting, it introduced him to a wide audience.

Since then, the rapper has released three more albums, all of which charted, with his highest charting album being Integrity> which he released on May 4, 2015, reaching number 12 on the album charts and being certified Silver.

The rapper is known for his technical skills and delivery, and though he is reaching 40, his talent, drive, and never-ending strive to be better still make him an artist to watch out for. 

Skepta might just be one of the most popular Grime rappers on this list. In a career that spans over 20 years, Skepta has achieved name and acclaim.

However, the rapper still can’t be counted out as he continues to produce some of the most cerebral Grime music out of everyone in the genre.

In fact, even American rappers like A$AP Rocky, with whom he collaborated back in 2018, seek out Skepta’s skills in order to create stellar music.

It comes as no surprise that the previous rapper on this list, Jme, is Skepta’s younger brother, as the two share a similar outlook where they lay out everything they have on the track.

Like Jme, Skepta also produces much of his own music, and a special highlight amongst his oeuvre is his fourth studio album, 2016’s Konnichiwa, which even won the prestigious Mercury Prize.

In a genre where most rappers lose steam after age 30, Skepta is still a formidable voice.

Stormzy is a British rapper who requires no introduction. Stormzy might be the most popular rapper on this list.

The rapper’s rise to fame happened throughout the 2010s after making a name for himself in underground ciphers.

Releasing his debut album Gang Sings & Prayers in 2017, the rapper has gone on to challenge Skepta for the throne of the King of UK Grime.

If Skepta is the critical darling of the genre, Stormzy is the commercial king as each of his three albums has debuted atop the UK albums chart.

In fact, two of them have been certified platinum, selling 400K and 300K respectively.

The rapper is also the most recognized Grime Rapper outside the country.

Scuti is an up-and-coming London rapper making a name for herself. Despite her nascent career, many have their eyes on just where Scuti will go.

Though people only started noticing her in 2019, when she was around 18 years old, the rapper has been making music since she was 10 or 11. 

Unlike many Grime rappers much older than her, Scuti has made a name for herself by blending the similar but often disparate sounds of Grime, UK Drill, and Trap in her eclectic catalog.

Naming herself after the star UY Scuti, which is 1000 times bigger than the Earth’s sun, it comes as no surprise that Scuti wants to reach the same heights.

The rapper has said as much in an interview she did in i-D, just a year into her career, and with everything she has achieved since, one is hard-pressed not to believe her.

TS Lagga is another up-and-coming UK Grime artist but only much younger. In fact, the rapper is only 15 years old.

Despite his young age, not only was Lagga included in Complex UK’s list of Grime rappers to look out for in 2023, but the rapper is steadily gaining steam all across his home country.

The rapper went viral with his song What’s Love? last year, that too at 14, and since then has steadily been dropping song after song. 

Though he hasn’t yet dropped a debut project, the rapper has steadily been releasing multiple singles since his debut Athlete which came out on September 30, 2021. 

Since he is only 15 years old, there is no ceiling to where the rapper can grow as he not only has the youthful vigor and hunger carrying him but also the talent to back it up.

Little Simz is a UK rapper who occupies a curious place in the genre: Considered a legend by many but also one who is not done producing classics. 

Though she released two albums in 2015 and 2016, it was her third album GREY Area in 2019 that established her as a major figure in not only UK Hip-Hop, but Hip-Hop in general.

The album was shortlisted for the 28th Mercury Prize and though she lost, being nominated at age 22 brought her much fame and acclaim.

However, GREY Area’s loss would mean nothing in the long run as Simz would end up winning the Mercury Prize with her next album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

The album would not only win the prestigious prize but be touted as one of the best albums to come out in 2021.

Just a year later, in December, Simz would release a surprise album, NO THANK YOU, and with it complete a trilogy of acclaimed works. 

Novelist is a British Grime rapper and producer whose real name is Kwadwo Quentin Kankam. The rapper is 26 years old.

However, he has been making music since 2010, when he was only 14 years old, and spent much of the 2010s honing his craft.

Much of the decade was spent rapping in various radio shows like BBC Radio 1Xtra, and pirate radio stations throughout London.

Even before he had released a full-length album, the rapper received a nomination at the 2014 MOBO Awards in the category of Best Grime Act through the strength of one EP

Novelist’s debut album, Novelist Guy, would come out on April 13, 2018, and introduce the rapper’s conscious blend of Grime to the public.

Though the album was a commercial failure, it was recognized by the Mercury Prize committee by being nominated for the 27th Mercury Prize awards, though it lost out to Wolf Alice’s Visions of a Life.

Strandz is an up-and-coming rapper based in South London. Aside from rapping, he also produces and engineers.

The rapper comes from a musical family as his father had an extensive record collection which Strandz would religiously peruse while growing up.

Through that record collection, Strandz would fall in love with 2000s-era Hip Hop, in the same vein as Central Cee, but more around the vein of the soul samples used there.

In his own music, the rapper has attempted to bridge the gap between modern UK Grime and Drill music with the soul samples of the 2000s music that he grew up loving.

The rapper is not alone in his fascination for the mashup as he has already amassed over 1.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, so it’s certain that audiences are listening. 

Four of the five most popular songs on the rapper’s Spotify have already amassed millions of plays, with his most popular song Us Against the World having crossed 13 million.

KidWILD is an actor turned rapper, who is one of the hottest up-and-comers in the game. The rapper is widely touted as next up among young artists.

Starting his career as an actor on Jamie Johnson, a popular CBBC football drama series where he played Freddie Seyo, KidWILD was warming up his lyrical skills behind the scenes.

The rapper burst into the music industry with his debut single Popular Loner on April 25, 2022, and has amassed over 2.2 million views on the song’s YouTube video since then.

The song has also amassed over 11.8 million plays on his Spotify, where he has over 227K monthly listeners off the strength of just four singles.

At 17 years old, the rapper is still very young, but his music shows that he already has a direction he wants to pursue.