Central Cee reveals how he deals with survivor guilt after his pal Fernando Johnson was murdered in an ambush at 23-years-old as he reflects on grief

Central Cee has opened up about how he deals with survivor guilt as he posed for British GQ’s Men of the Year magazine on Thursday.

The rapper, 26, lost his good friend Fernando Johnson, 23, when he was murdered in an ambush by two men in Acton last year.

In his memory, Cee tattooed his name onto his skin, crafted a diamond pendant with their likeliness, and immortalised Fernando’s name in his record Can’t Rush Greatness.

When asked if he’s found a way to make inner peace with what happened, the rapper told GQ: ‘Nah, I just don’t really think about it, innit,’ before adding: ‘It’s not the best way of dealing with it.’

He added: ‘A way of dealing with it, actually, is I think very far ahead. And I do as much as I can to help the people around me, to prevent that feeling ever happening again.

‘So we’re all surviving, innit?’

The rapper, 26, opened up as he posed for British GQ’s Men of the Year magazine on Thursday

On January 26, 2023, Fernando was hit once as he stepped out of his BMW X-series on Rosebank Way, Acton at 2.15am. 

Fernando, who was known by his stage name, Fdot, was described by family as ‘such a lovely man’ who was ‘going to be a big name’.

A post-mortem examination found that he died of a gunshot wound. 

Shortly after his murder, his family said in a statement: ‘He was greatly loved by family and friends and well known to the community he always had a smile on his face and greeted everyone with a big smile and hug.

‘He was a loving family man. He wanted the world to hear his story through his music. He was passionate about achieving his ambitions.

‘He was a talented footballer and played for QPR as a youngster. He was very polite and brilliant with people of all ages.

‘It’s a great loss to the family and community, we will make sure his memory lives on. His mother, father, grandmother and two elder brothers are devastated like all of us. 

‘He was the apple of their eye.’ 

Cee lost his good friend Fernando Johnson, 23, when he was murdered in an ambush by two men in Acton last year (pictured Central Cee)

When asked if he’s found a way to make peace with what happened, the rapper told GQ : ‘Nah, I just don’t really think about it, innit,’ before adding: ‘It’s not the best way of dealing with it.’

Cee, whose real name is Oakley Caesar-Su, has now racked up seven Top Ten tunes and is one of the most in-demand artists in British rap.

He has become a phenomenon with eight top 40 singles, a number one in Sprinter – his track with rapper Dave that held onto the top spot for 10 weeks, and a raft of other tracks that have cracked the Top 40.

One of his biggest hits last year was his single BAND4BAND with US rapper Lil Baby, which peaked at number four.

He also holds the title of being the first Brit rapper to rack up more than 2 billion streams on Spotify.  

Speaking about his sudden rise to fame, he told The Guardian: ‘I ask myself “Why am I not overwhelmed like everybody else seems to be?’ I think it’s because I think I deserve it.’

However, he contradicted his statement by adding: ‘That’s only one side of my mind. Because at the same time, I have a lot of survivor’s guilt where I don’t feel like I deserve anything that I have. 

‘I don’t know how I do it. I think it’s a survival instinct: what am I going to do, start going head over heels and lose this all? I just treat it as work.’