Aitch stuns fans in Manchester as he appears on top of fire truck for big announcement

Aitch is releasing his new album 4

Manchester rapper Aitch surprised fans in the city centre this afternoon as he paraded around town in a huge fire truck.

The Moston musician, 25, began his tour of the city by visiting four locations that he said have been ‘touchstones’ of his career. He rose to fame with the release of freestyle rap Straight Rhymez at the end of 2017.

The former Parklife headliner began his trek of four destinations - which was held to announce his forthcoming new album ‘4’ - with a trip to Moston Lane, which was referenced in his 2020 hit Moston.

The fire truck tour, which was part of a collaboration with grassroots campaign Save Our Scene, then saw Aitch head to Wellington Mills, on Duke Street, as he blared out tracks from the upcoming album including his latest single Bounce.

His tour was then followed by an appearance at Stage & Radio on Port Street. The music venue was where Aitch first met his long-time manager Michael Adex after performing at an open-mic night in 2016.

The tour concluded with a big celebration at Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter, where Aitch and his team arrived to a slight kerkuffle with some parking dramas. Having quickly reversed and safely positioned themselves on top of the truck, the musician threw out free '4' T-shirts, cans of his Syps drink and special '4' cards - which gave fans a chance to hear part of the album exclusively early.

Giving a shout out to the 'mandem' in the audience of numerous fans and bemused drinkers nearby, and declaring 'big up Stevenson Square', Aitch also took time to speak more about his Manchester upbringing and how his new record, released on June 20, is set to honour his hometown.

“This album represents, first & foremost, my postcode,” Aitch explained of the upcoming release. “My postcode is M40, and for years, since we were kids, when we used to take pictures, we always used to throw 4’s up. It used to be our thing; we were always repping the 4.

“So with that being said, this is welcoming people into the ’4’! Even though this album isn’t necessarily as personal or as vulnerable as [last album] Close To Home was, this is just a whole other side of my brain, where I’m just letting it all out, letting the vibes out, and just showing people what time it is where I’m from.

“Especially being from Manchester, I feel like sometimes a lot of things are hidden. Because the scene is very London-centric, we don’t always get a look in sometimes, so this is me just ripping that canvas and bringing people into what’s going on over here."

Aitch, who is set to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival in Liverpool next month, has appeared in Manchester through numerous pop-up events in recent months - including impromptu performances in takeaways to giving away free T-shirts in the Northern Quarter.

He also appeared at the Beyond the Music conference in Manchester in October where he spoke about why he wanted to always sound like where he came from and also shared his passion for becoming a 'scruffy' James Bond.

'4' is released on June 20 and can be pre-ordered here.