Album Review: Psychodrama by Dave

A moving, quasi-concept album, this debut from the 20-year-old rapper is bold and thought-provoking, the kind of record that comes along only rarely On the Friday release of Psychodrama, Dave wrote on his Instagram: "I feel like my whole life's been leading up to this one moment", and that release, of a lifetime worth of learning is evident throughout Psychodrama. The rapper, whose full name is David Orobosa Omoregi, may only be 20 years old, but he has lived a life, and he describes it vivid detail here. Inspired by Dave's older brother therapy sessions while in prison, ‘Psychodrama’ is a moving quasi-concept album, looking at the push-pull between the person and the world around them.

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When true, raw emotion pours out in musical form, there are few better tonics for hardship. South London rapper and multi-instrumentalist Dave has shown his ability to create this form of antidote previously on the politically-charged, seven-minute "Question Time" - which won him an Ivor Novello award - and on latest single "Black", which Radio 1 DJs had to defend after some listeners complained. An ironic outcome for a song that itself discusses the suppression and injustice by which black communities and individuals continue to be dogged.

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B y now, everyone should be used to hip-hop causing controversy, but even so, the storm about south London rapper Dave's most recent single Black is startling. When the follow-up to his 2018 No 1 Funky Friday was added to the Radio 1 playlist, it provoked a deluge of complaints from listeners: enough that breakfast show host Greg James felt obliged to address the issue on air, while Annie Mac defended the song on Twitter. The startling thing is that Black isn't the kind of rap track that people normally get upset about: the standard bugbears of violence, misogyny or homophobia are nowhere to be heard.

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