Kevin Durant Names Central Cee As His 2023 Hip-Hop Rookie Of The Year

Central Cee just got a major co-sign from one of the greatest professional basketball players in the world. NBA superstar Kevin Durant sees the British rapper as the standout Hip Hop newcomer of 2023.

The final episode of Spotify’s Inside RapCaviar series centered around Kevin Durant and sports journalist Taylor Rooks, as well as music producers Hit-Boy and Boi-1da, discussing their respective selections for MVP and Rookie Of The Year for the 2023 All-RapCaviar campaign.

“My co-MVPs this year [are] Drake and Metro Boomin,” expressed Boi-1da. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant said, “I’m gonna go with Central Cee [as Rookie Of The Year].” Hit-Boy gave the ROTY honor to Ice Spice, “Her visibility is undeniable.”

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Spotify nominated Central Cee, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Destroy Lonely, and Luh Tyler for this year’s Rookie Of The Year award. The Most Valuable Player award will go to either Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, or Metro Boomin.

In addition to receiving recognition from Kevin Durant, London-born recording artist Central Cee recently linked up with MVP nominee Drake for their viral “On The Radar” freestyle. On The Radar Radio‘s video of Cee and Drake has amassed nearly 6 million YouTube views in less than five days.

Central Cee also scored a No. 1 hit on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart Top 100. His record-breaking “Sprinter” collaboration with fellow Londoner Dave has spent seven weeks atop those rankings. Fellow ROTY candidate Ice Spice also teased an upcoming song with Central Cee.