4

Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025

Aitch

“Since 2018, I brought life to the game. From the M-Town, Europe, States, even Zante. Cooking up with Sheeran, on stage with Ashanti,” Aitch raps on “STRAIGHT RHYMEZ 2.”

That’s one of many typically confident bars that Aitch—born Harrison Armstrong—spits on his second album, 4. The Mancunian rapper has seen a shift in the landscape since 2022’s Close to Home, and 4 reflects that. “Music’s changed a lot since album one and I think I tried to find the balance of not trying to look like the sickest rapper in the world, but then over-confusing people,” he tells Apple Music’s Dotty. “I’ve found the middle ground of making a three-and-a-half-minute song into a two-minute song, also getting my point across.”

It’s an efficiency that extends to the largely sinewy beats that back his verses across the album. Aitch sees 4 as a move away from more heartfelt, personal tracks of the past like “My G,” his Ed Sheeran-assisted tribute to his little sister. This is the sound of a man who’s given away a lot and is now reaping the rewards and having fun with it.

“I feel like my last album was a little bit more vulnerable, you got a side to me that no one knew. Before, I was that guy that was just rapping about partying all the time and I was sick of being that person. So then I made Close to Home with the thought process of: ‘Let people get to know Harrison, maybe do the “My G” tune.’ This one now is like: ‘Here’s a load of sick rap tunes. See you later,’” he says.

With such an accomplished album—and linkups with AJ Tracey (“TEST”), Tamera (“LOCKED IN”), and Anne-Marie (“LUV?”)—it’s hard to believe Aitch still has anything left to prove.

“I’ve always believed in my little sauce,” he says. “I wanted to just channel a little bit of that old-school energy and kind of give people a feeling of rap and hip-hop. I’ve never really doubted myself.”