Born Oakley Neil Caesar Su, British drill and hip hop rapper Central Cee recently revealed on a livestream that he had converted to Islam, taken his Shahada, and changed his name.

West London’s Central Cee, also commonly known as Cench, took to the livestream alongside his friends and revealed:

“I just changed my name and took my shahada, I am a muslim now.”

In the background, his friends can be heard congratulating him in the video, with one saying, “Banging bro, congrats,” before shaking his hand.

In Islam, the Shahada is the central declaration of faith and is considered the most important statement a Muslim can make. It is both a verbal affirmation and a spiritual commitment, which translates to:

“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

Cench was born and raised in London to an Irish mother and a Guyanese and Chinese father. While he has been private, and some would say reluctant, to publicly share details of his ethnicity and family background, including whether or not he had a religious upbringing, he has spoken about his multicultural upbringing in London.

Central Cee began his lucrative music career with an appearance on a now deleted episode of the Fire in the Streets series in 2014. The 27 year old award winning musician later released his breakout single Day in the Life on 14 June 2020 and has since been recognised by the BRIT Awards, MTV, and the MOBO Awards, among others.

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Since his debut, Central Cee has amassed over 17 million followers and earned multiple platinum certified songs, including big hits like Doja, Sprinter (with Dave), and BAND4BAND.

Following the recent revelation, thousands of Cench fans flooded his comment sections with praise and congratulations, leaving comments such as “Welcome to Islam, brother” and “May Allah grant this transition to Islam easy for you brother.”

While it is not a religious requirement, many converts to Islam choose to adopt a new name as a symbolic gesture of embracing their new faith and identity. Many select names with positive meanings in Arabic or names of prophets and revered figures in the Quran. Cench, never one to overshare, did not reveal his new Islamic name, leaving fans to guess and even suggest several names they thought might suit him. One fan commented, “YUSUF SUITS HIM WELL,” while another said, “Akil, this name has always been my top 1.”

Let us wish Cench the best on his journey!