Central Cee joins Nicki Minaj for surprise performance in Manchester
Pink Friday 2 emcee Nicki Minaj has been taking her tour to the UK, including a visit to Co-op Live Manchester on May 30th and, to the crowd’s surprise, brought out one of the UK’s most prominent rappers, Central Cee, as a surprise guest.
Minaj was previously forced to reschedule the event after getting arrested for possession of drugs while going through an Amsterdam airport. After getting detained in the Netherlands for possession of marijuana, she took to social media to express her outrage.
Updating fans, the ‘No Frauds’ lyricist wrote, “They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now saying they’re waiting on customs”.
Following the incident, promoters told Minaj’s UK fans, “Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance, which will be announced ASAP.” The show was then scheduled for May 30th, and the audience got a hell of a treat.
Minaj performed a lengthy set of her hits, including, ‘Red Ruby Da Sleaze’, ‘Chun-Li’, ‘Anaconda’, ‘Super Bass’ and ‘Starships’ to name a few. However, despite Minaj’s presence, it was a younger, more local artist that made waves on the night.
Central Cee, who since 2019 has been at the forefront of UK drill scene alongside the likes of Tion Wayne and Digga D, was brought out during the latter half of Nicki’s set to perform his most recent single, ‘BAND4BAND’.
The West London lyricist has previously freestyled back-to-back with Drake on the On The Radar radio show and had an international hit with his single ‘Doja’, which is most known for sampling the 2001 Eve track ‘Blow Your Mind’.
This is not the first time Nicki has brought out local artists to support her on tour, during her 2019 Queen tour, she brought out Birmingham emcee Lady Leshurr as a surprise guest and has always platformed the best local talent.
Minaj is set to return to the Co-op Live in Manchester for another sold-out show on June 3rd, and it remains to be seen if she’ll be joined by another A-list star.