Central Cee releases 'Doja' — UK drill goes global on TikTok

Why it matters

"Doja" came out June 17, 2022, on Central Cee's own label. Central Cee (Oakley Caesar-Su) is a West London MC, then 23. The song was produced by Sucuki and Squeaks, built on a sample of Eve's 2001 "Let Me Blow Ya Mind." The song was an instant TikTok hit, accumulating tens of millions of plays through dance-and-lip-sync videos on the platform within weeks. "Doja" peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's broader significance is that it demonstrated UK drill could cross over into TikTok-driven international streaming pop the same way American trap had. Central Cee had been a UK-only rap figure before 2022; the post-"Doja" trajectory took him onto US charts, into a co-headlining tour with Lil Baby in 2023, and into a No More Parties (2023) commercial moment that put him in the international rap conversation. UK drill, which had spent the prior decade as a primarily British phenomenon, became a global commercial format through Central Cee's TikTok-era breakthrough. You can hear the song's structure if you have spent any time on TikTok. The drum pattern is the part that hooks.