Close to Home is the debut full-length studio album by British rapper Aitch, released in 2022. The album features guest appearances from Mastermind, Ashanti, New Machine, Bakar, AJ Tracey and Ed Sheeran. The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with some criticising the uneven quality of the songs.
The album was the first record to include NFT content to enter the UK Albums Chart.
Contents
Critical reception
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Close to Home received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 from six critic scores. In NME, Fred Garratt-Stanley gave Close to Home four out of five stars, noting how Aitch's public persona has matured with this album. Sister publications The Guardian and The Observer rated this album three out of five stars; in the former, critic Alexis Petridis situating the release in terms of contemporary British youth culture, but noting the unevenness of the production and in the latter, Ammar Kalia praised the development of Aitch as a musician. Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Wepea Buntugu scored Close to Home a seven out of 10 due to the variety of emotions and tones found on the music and noting the successful collaborations, but opining that "there are a number of extra levels to reach". In The Daily Telegraph, Will Pritchard gave Close to Home four out of five stars, noting that "when [Aitch] takes a big swing, he can hit big", but pointing out that the album also has "duds".
Track listing
Notes
"Belgraveroad 1" is stylised as "BelgraveRoad_1".
"1989" samples "Fools Gold", written by Ian Brown and John Squire, as performed by the Stone Roses.
"Baby" samples "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)", written by Ashanti Douglas, Andre Parker and Irving Lorenzo, as performed by Ashanti.
Personnel
Aitch – rapping
Additional musicians
Technical personnel