AITCH

AITCH

Navigating UK rap stardom is a tricky thing, but Aitch has it down pat. He’s chameleonic like the pop stars he collabs with, gritty like the grime artists that inspired him. Born Harrison Armstrong in Manchester in 1999, Aitch grew up removed from the London scene, where grime blossomed during his formative years, but soaked up the music from afar. Then, as a teenager, he started rapping, building a following online with his snaking flows and dizzying rhyme schemes. Things took off in 2018 when he dropped his menacing debut single “Straight Rhymez,” and Aitch has since risen to the pantheon of UK hip-hop. In tracks like the 2019 remix of Ed Sheeran’s “Take Me Back To London,” you’ll hear his transition away from grime to sticky pop-rap, but his dexterous raps remind that he hasn’t lost touch with his roots.