It often feels like Aitch arrived as a fully formed star. Since dropping the spotless, swaggering “Straight Rhymez” in late 2018, he’s been one of British music’s most buzzed-about artists. With punchlines as sharp as his Mancunian vowels and a flow supple enough to ride any beat, his ascendency has been swift and irresistible. After charismatic features on tracks by Bugzy Malone and Young T & Bugsey, his own “Taste (Make It Shake)” became a solid contender for the UK’s song of the summer in 2019, while an appearance alongside Stormzy on the remix of Ed Sheeran’s “Take Me Back to London” sealed his entry into rap royalty. And he intends to stick around. “I’ll always come back to that spitting element, and always come back to where I came from,” he tells Apple Music. “I’m always repping Manchester. As long as I keep doing my rap stuff and my little freestyles here and there, then I won't have a problem.”