If you’ve been paying attention to UK rap over the last few years, you already know that Harrison Armstrong — better known as Aitch — isn’t just another Manchester MC riding a wave. He’s shaped the wave. From his breakout freestyles on Link Up TV to arena-filling anthems and Billboard-charting collabs with global names, Aitch has built a discography that holds up track by track, no fillers. Whether you’re new to his music or a longtime fan looking to revisit the classics, this is your complete guide to the best Aitch songs worth playing on repeat. Let’s get into it.
Straight Rhymez
If there’s a single song responsible for putting Aitch on the map nationwide, it’s Straight Rhymez. Released in 2018, this freestyle-turned-anthem dropped with zero label backing and near-zero industry infrastructure, yet it racked up millions of views within weeks and introduced Manchester to a new kind of lyrical talent. What makes it remarkable isn’t just the speed — it’s the precision. Aitch rides the beat with a confidence you’d expect from a veteran, not a teenager, and every line lands with deliberate intent. The production keeps things stripped-back and gritty, letting his flow do the heavy lifting, and that choice pays off enormously. This is raw northern UK rap at its most unfiltered, and it still sounds like a statement.
Straight Rhymez 2
A sequel that actually lives up to the original is rare, but Straight Rhymez 2 earns its place. Rather than recycling the formula, Aitch shows noticeable growth — the delivery is sharper, the wordplay is denser, and you can hear a young artist beginning to understand his own sonic identity. The track leans harder into a melodic pocket while still keeping the rapid-fire lyricism that fans came for. It works as both a standalone banger and a companion piece to the first instalment, rewarding anyone who listens to them back to back with a clear picture of how quickly Aitch was evolving his craft in real time.
Taste (Make It Shake)
If you’ve been anywhere near a UK club night or a late-night drive playlist in the past few years, Taste (Make It Shake) has likely found you. The track is built around one of Aitch’s most infectious hooks — a looping, addictive refrain that sits perfectly in the midrange and practically demands a sing-along. Production-wise, it hits a sweet spot between bounce-ready trap drums and melodic UK rap, making it equally effective in headphones and on a full sound system. The verses back up the chorus energy with confident lyricism, and the overall mix has a polished sheen that signalled Aitch was ready for bigger stages without losing his street-level appeal.
Rain (with AJ Tracey)
Rain brought together two of the UK’s most exciting voices of their respective cities and delivered something that felt genuinely exciting rather than commercially convenient. Aitch and AJ Tracey have complementary styles — both capable of switching between rapid flow and melodic hooks — and they use that chemistry well here. The track has a brooding, atmospheric quality, with production choices that favour mood over maximalism. It charted in the UK Top 40 and performed well on streaming platforms, but beyond the numbers, it demonstrated Aitch’s ability to hold his own alongside one of the most technically skilled rappers in the UK scene without being overshadowed. A standout moment in both artists’ catalogues.
Baby (feat. Ashanti)
Nobody expected Aitch to link up with R&B legend Ashanti, and that’s exactly what made Baby feel so memorable when it arrived. The track blends Ashanti’s warm, soulful vocal delivery with Aitch’s melodic rap sensibility in a way that sounds organic rather than gimmicky. There’s a late-2000s R&B warmth baked into the production — smooth chords, a flowing tempo, and a nostalgic softness — that plays beautifully against Aitch’s more contemporary northern cadence. It became one of his most-streamed tracks and demonstrated real range, proving he could operate in entirely different sonic spaces without sounding out of place. Put it on in the car on a summer evening and you’ll understand the hype immediately.
My G (feat. Ed Sheeran)
My G is the kind of collab that could easily have gone wrong. Ed Sheeran is one of the world’s biggest pop stars; Aitch is a Manchester rap artist. On paper, the pairing raises questions. In practice, it’s a genuinely warm track built around a tribute to close friendship, with both artists matching each other’s energy rather than competing for dominance. Ed’s melodic contributions add texture and emotional weight without pulling the song away from its UK rap roots, and Aitch’s verses feel heartfelt and personal rather than performative. The production strikes a balance between pop accessibility and rhythmic grit, and it connected with a massive mainstream audience while keeping Aitch’s core fan base onside. A rare win-win crossover.
Baddies (feat. Luciano)
Baddies is one of Aitch’s most sonically adventurous cuts. Featuring German-Cameroonian rapper Luciano, the track blends UK rap sensibilities with continental European drill and hip-hop flavour, creating something that sounds genuinely international in the best way. The bass hits with real weight, the flows from both artists are distinct and complementary, and the energy stays elevated throughout. It’s worth listening to on quality speakers or a good pair of headphones — the low-end production choices reward attentive listening in ways a phone speaker simply can’t replicate. The collab helped expand Aitch’s audience across Europe and added a different dimension to his discography.
A Guy Called?
A Guy Called? shows a more contemplative side of Aitch — the kind of track where he examines his own come-up, his identity, and the strangeness of sudden fame while still delivering it with the swagger of someone who’s entirely comfortable in his own skin. The song has a cinematic quality to it; the beat builds atmosphere rather than just providing a rhythmic backdrop, and Aitch’s vocal performance is measured and deliberate, letting the words breathe. It rewards close listening far more than casual background play, and it stands as one of the more complete pieces of storytelling in his catalogue.
Louis Vuitton
There’s nothing subtle about Louis Vuitton, and it absolutely does not need to be. This is Aitch leaning fully into the flex-rap lane — not with arrogant excess, but with a grinning, almost playful confidence that makes it infectious rather than irritating. The production is clean and sharp, the hook is immediately memorable, and the track sits comfortably in a tradition of upbeat, aspirational UK rap that celebrates where you’ve come from as much as where you’re going. It works perfectly as opening-credits music, the kind of thing you play when you’re walking somewhere with a bit of purpose. Equal parts bravado and good humour.
Raw
Raw does exactly what the title promises. Stripped of glossy production tricks and radio-ready polish, the track puts Aitch’s core strength — his pen game and his flow — front and centre with minimal distraction. It’s the kind of song that wins over the lyrical heads who might have written him off as a pop crossover act after tracks like Baby or My G. The beat gives him space, and he uses every inch of it effectively. For anyone building a comprehensive Aitch playlist, Raw is an essential counterbalance to the smoother, more melodic material — a reminder that the foundational skills that built Straight Rhymez never went anywhere.
30
30 is a song that captures a particular kind of youthful ambition with unusual emotional clarity. Written and recorded while Aitch was still in his early twenties, the track projects forward — imagining where life, relationships, and success might land by a specific milestone age. The production has a reflective, slightly wistful quality that sets it apart from his more energetic material, and the lyricism digs into themes of loyalty, growth, and expectation without becoming maudlin. It’s the kind of song that resonates differently depending on where you are in life, and that kind of durability is the mark of genuinely good songwriting rather than just clever wordplay.
Safe To Say
Safe To Say channels a particular brand of relaxed confidence that Aitch wears better than most. The tempo is unhurried, the flow sits comfortably in the groove rather than fighting against it, and the overall vibe is one of an artist who’s arrived somewhere and is entirely at peace with that. There’s a looseness to the performance that actually takes considerable skill to execute convincingly — too loose and it reads as lazy, but Aitch navigates that line with ease. It plays particularly well during late-night listening sessions, the kind of track that sounds better as the evening settles in.
Learning Curve
Learning Curve is arguably one of the most emotionally honest tracks in Aitch’s entire output. The song examines the personal cost of rapid growth — the relationships strained by sudden success, the lessons absorbed the hard way, and the ongoing process of figuring out who you are when external circumstances change faster than your internal compass can keep up. The production reflects that internal tension with a slightly unsettled sonic quality that never tips into chaos, and Aitch’s delivery is notably more vulnerable here than on much of his output. It’s the kind of track that earns deeper appreciation on repeat listens rather than exploding on first contact.
2 G’s
2 G’s takes Aitch back to the punchy, lyrically focused space where he first made his name and delivers a track that feels energised and competitive without being aggressive. The production has a snap and crunch to it that favours the kind of confident, economical bar-writing that characterised his earlier material, and Aitch rises to meet it effectively. There’s a regional pride running through the track that northern UK listeners in particular tend to connect with, and it holds its own comfortably among the more polished later material as a reminder of the fundamentals.
Buss Down (feat. ZieZie)
Buss Down brings in ZieZie’s silky vocal presence alongside Aitch’s rap delivery for a track that threads the needle between hard-edged UK rap and smooth R&B-influenced pop. The production plays the contrast well, giving both artists sonic space to do what they do best rather than forcing them into the same register. For fans who discovered Aitch through his more melodic material, this track is a natural favourite; for those who came via the rap freestyles, it’s an interesting detour that pays off. It works particularly well as background listening at a gathering — comfortable and engaging without demanding full attention.
Gold Mine (with D-Block Europe)
The collaboration with D-Block Europe on Gold Mine produced one of Aitch’s most commercially successful moments. D-Block Europe — the London duo of Young Adz and Dirtbike LB — bring a heavy drill-adjacent energy to the track that meshes effectively with Aitch’s melodic-rap instincts, and the result is a song that hits across multiple UK rap sub-genres simultaneously. The hook is immediately gratifying, the verse structures keep things moving without overstaying their welcome, and the overall production is crisp and major-label polished. A genuine crossover moment that didn’t require compromising anyone’s style.
Raving In The Studio
Raving In The Studio is Aitch at his most self-aware and entertaining — a track built on a concept that speaks directly to the culture surrounding the making of modern UK rap, and delivered with enough charm and wit to make it feel like an in-joke that everyone’s invited to. The energy is high, the production is built for maximum playback reward, and the track never takes itself too seriously. That quality — knowing when to be fun — is actually harder to pull off than earnestness, and Aitch gets it right here. It’s a crowd-pleaser in the best possible way, the kind of song that makes live crowds visibly light up.
UFO
UFO represents one of Aitch’s more experimental sonic moments. The production reaches in a different direction from his usual palette, and his approach to the vocal performance reflects that shift — slightly more atmospheric, more willing to let space do some of the work. It’s a track that rewards patient listening and positions Aitch as an artist with wider range than his mainstream hits alone might suggest. Not every fan will gravitate to it immediately, but for those who appreciate watching artists stretch beyond their comfort zone, UFO is one of the more interesting entries in his catalogue.
Famous Girl
Famous Girl balances the two registers Aitch has spent his career bridging — the sharp rap construction and the melody-forward, emotionally engaged songwriting — better than almost anything else in his output. The song’s production is rich without being cluttered, and the narrative thread running through the verses gives the track a satisfying arc. It demonstrates how much ground he’d covered as a songwriter between Straight Rhymez and his more polished releases, and it sounds excellent on a quality pair of headphones where the mix’s detail can be fully appreciated. If you enjoy the craft as much as the energy, this is essential listening.
LUV? (feat. Anne-Marie)
Closing the list with LUV? feels right because it represents the fullest expression of Aitch’s mainstream ambitions executed without compromise. Featuring Anne-Marie — one of the UK’s most commercially successful pop vocalists — the track is polished, hook-driven, and built for wide audiences, yet it retains enough of Aitch’s voice and personality to feel authentic rather than diluted. The interplay between his rap verses and Anne-Marie’s chorus contributions is genuinely well-crafted, and the production gives both artists a platform that flatters their respective strengths. It’s the kind of track that earns a place on compare headphones recommendation lists — a proper test of a mix’s full frequency range, from punchy low-end to crisp highs.
From Straight Rhymez to LUV?, what these twenty songs map out is the trajectory of one of the most genuinely talented UK rap artists of his generation — someone who arrived with remarkable natural skill and has consistently worked to expand what he’s capable of. There’s a reason the Manchester crowd still goes wild every time an Aitch track drops, and these songs are that reason.
If you’re looking to explore more of what’s making waves in the UK and global music scene, the GlobalMusicVibe songs section is worth bookmarking for regular updates, deep dives, and fresh playlist recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Aitch’s breakthrough song?
Aitch’s breakthrough came with Straight Rhymez, a freestyle he released in 2018 that rapidly accumulated millions of views online without any major label machinery behind it. The track went viral across YouTube and social media, and its combination of rapid-fire delivery and street-level authenticity made it an instant talking point in the UK rap community. It remains one of the defining UK rap moments of that era and is still widely regarded as the song that introduced Aitch to a national audience.
What genres does Aitch’s music cover?
Aitch’s music spans several interconnected genres, primarily rooted in UK rap and grime with strong melodic hip-hop influence. His earlier work sits firmly in the rapid-flow, lyrically-focused rap tradition, while his more recent output incorporates R&B-influenced production, pop-rap crossover songwriting, and drill-adjacent arrangements. That flexibility has allowed him to collaborate convincingly across genres — from the soulful R&B of Baby with Ashanti to the drill-influenced sound of Gold Mine with D-Block Europe.
Has Aitch worked with many well-known artists?
Yes — Aitch has an impressive list of collaborations including Ed Sheeran (My G), Ashanti (Baby), AJ Tracey (Rain), Anne-Marie (LUV?), D-Block Europe (Gold Mine), ZieZie (Buss Down), and Luciano (Baddies). The breadth of those collaborations — spanning pop, R&B, UK rap, and European hip-hop — reflects both his mainstream appeal and his credibility across different scenes. Each collab has tended to produce material that suits both artists rather than feeling forced.
Which Aitch song is best for new listeners to start with?
For new listeners, Taste (Make It Shake) offers an ideal entry point because it encapsulates the qualities that define Aitch’s appeal: a memorable hook, confident delivery, and production that sits comfortably between club-ready energy and melodic accessibility. From there, Rain with AJ Tracey offers a taste of his collaborative range, while Straight Rhymez provides important context for understanding where he started. Together those three tracks give a solid cross-section of his strengths.
What makes Aitch’s flow distinctive?
Aitch’s flow is characterised by a combination of speed and melodic instinct that’s relatively unusual in UK rap. Many artists at his pace sacrifice melodic clarity for technical complexity, but Aitch consistently maintains singable phrasing even at high velocity. His Manchester accent adds a textural quality to his delivery that distinguishes him from London-dominated UK rap, and his ability to switch fluidly between rapid-bar mode and a more relaxed, hook-oriented approach gives his music a versatility that sustains interest across a full project. For audiophiles, his vocal presence also responds well to quality playback — worth pairing with well-reviewed audio gear if you want to hear the detail in his delivery. You can find some useful earbuds comparisons at GlobalMusicVibe to get the most out of your listening experience.
Is Aitch from Manchester?
Yes — Aitch was born and raised in Newton Heath, Manchester, and his northern English identity is woven through his music both lyrically and sonically. His success has been a point of significant regional pride, and he is frequently cited as one of the most prominent artists to emerge from the Manchester rap scene in recent years.