The album boasts features from James Blake, Kano, Tems, Jim Legxacy and Nicole Blakk, who are all incredible and bring such magic to their respective tracks. Especially Kano, who has such a great rapport with Dave on Track Four called 'Chapter 17'.
This is my first Dave album, whilst I was familiar with Dave through his collabs with Central Cee ‘Sprinter’ and ‘UK Rap’, I had never listened to Dave's solo projects, and I cannot understate how much this album blew me away, particularly tracks seven and nine...
Track seven, ‘My 27th Birthday’, about social activism particularly on social media, becomes really recognisable in this era of political instability. Often social media is used as a tool of activism and awareness many people, especially us as uni students, and Dave as a celebrity can identify with. The track encapsulates what it’s like to want to speak and be vocal about social justice issues, but wonder if you’re a hypocrite, doing enough, and whether it's ‘worth it’ to go through humiliation and push back from the people around you, as well as forces bigger than you. I think the existence of this track (and also track nine) shows what kind of person Dave person wants to be, and that's inspiring to me.
Track nine, ‘Fairchild’ featuring Nicole Blakk was powerful and poignant, and for an artist to openly talk about femicide and harassment within clubbing culture was so unexpected yet so very welcome and needed. It is eye-opening as a uni student who regularly goes out clubbing, and comforting for women who may identify with Blakk’s verse. I really wish Dave hadn’t put his vocals under Blakk’s towards the end of her verse and just layered her own voice to create a similar effect, but this didn't derail the track.
It is eye-opening as a uni student who regularly goes out clubbing, and comforting for women who may identify with Blakk’s verse.
This is a thought-provoking project with heavenly production that deals with some haunting subject matters. To me, it's reminiscent of the albums ‘Mr Morale and the Big Steppers’ by Kendrick Lamar or ‘Donda’ by Kanye West, in the fact that it's an artist confronting loudly, proudly and publicly their pain, trauma and dissatisfaction with their place in the world, and what they’re doing within it. Only time will tell if this album can stand beside the heights of tracks like ‘Life of the Party’ or ‘24’ on Donda or ‘Auntie Diaries’ on Mr Morale.
I would not only recommend listening to this album once, but listening to it a couple of times over the next couple of months, and really dive in and let the lyrics settle with you.