Despite London being the hub for British rappers, Manchester-born rapper Aitch, who is deemed one of the city's most successful rappers, was extremely popular among the crowd at his almost sold-out concert at PRYZM Kingston last Friday (20 June).

The Banquet Records run concert was held to celebrate the release of Aitch's newest album 4, which was first released last Friday.

The album comes after the BRIT award winner's year-long hiatus, so performing in Kingston on the same day as his fourth album's release is mega.

As a British grime fan, I have always admired Aitch's rapping skills and love the way he keeps his Manchester accent in his music, so I was super excited when I found out he was coming to Kingston.

Despite last week's heatwave, PRYZM's dance floor was filled to the brim with people of all ages, including children, families, and lots of girls wanting to see the rapper in the flesh.

Aitch frequently conversed with the crowd (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

And, despite his late start, the crowd went wild when Aitch appeared on the stage performing 'Clock the G4me' which features on 4.

Now, having watched various interviews with Aitch, it is no secret that he has that cheeky chappy sort of charisma - and he brought that to the stage last week, speaking to the crowd in between sets and teasing us about whether he should perform some of his best-known songs.

Aitch is a real crowd pleaser (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

"It's hot in here innit?" he asked the crowd, who were not afraid of forming a mosh pit during his first song.

He even spotted one of his super fans standing front row, who has clearly been to his concerts before and gave them a shout out.

But what I loved most about seeing Aitch perform live is that he did not need much in terms of stage setting and performance – just himself, dressed in a simple white tee, trousers and a cap, along with his mic, a simple stage set and his backing DJ blasting the beats of his songs.

Aitch's stage set and outfit were simple (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

As the PRYZM concert was held in celebration of his new album, Aitch performed several songs from 4, including 'Till L4TE', 'Luv', which features star Anne-Marie, 'M40', which is based on the rapper's home postcode, and 'Bounce', which had the crowd jumping up and down with their hands in the air after Aitch had asked them to do so.

However, Aitch also performed some of his older, and perhaps more recognised songs, including 'Strike Me a Pose', which saw the female crowd members screaming along to, and 'his 2020 hit Rain', which features fellow British rapper AJ Tracey, who performed in PRYZM Kingston the week before Aitch's concert.

To mix it up a little bit, Aitch's DJ joined him front of stage to spit some bars, and it was fun to see the pair working together.

Aitch performed a song with his DJ (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

To finish the night, after listening to the crowd cry for an encore, Aitch performed 'Keisha & Becky' – an encore song chosen by the crowd.

While the crowd were up dancing and enjoying Aitch's rapping skills, his last song for the night definitely seemed to be the crowd favourite as it had them going wild.

For anyone who was hoping to see the softer side of Aitch at last week's concert, which he shares in various songs like 'My G', which features Ed Sheeran and is dedicated to Aitch's younger sister, Gracie, who had suffered with down-syndrome and sadly passed away, this was not part of the rapper's plans for the night, as every track he performed was upbeat and made for dancing – just what you want on a summer Friday night.

It really was a great concert – Aitch clearly knows how to work a crowd and had everyone dancing despite the sweaty heat of the small concert hall.

My only complaint is that, with the concert lasting just under an hour, I wish it had been longer.