Dave (rapper)

That same year, Canadian rapper Drake premiered a remix of Dave's song "Wanna Know" on the former's OVO Sound Radio.

[8] He began composing music at an early age; he started writing lyrics at 11 after watching his older brother practise rapping at home and he taught himself piano after receiving an electric keyboard from his mother for Christmas when he was 14.

When Dave was 11, his brother Christopher was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years, under the law of joint enterprise, for his involvement in the March 2010 gang murder of 15-year-old Sofyen Belamouadden at London Victoria station.

[12][13] Dave attended St Mark's Academy in Mitcham, and Richmond upon Thames College in Twickenham, where he studied law, philosophy and ethics, while also completing an additional module in sound design and politics.

He secured a place at De Montfort University in Leicester to study law but never attended, choosing instead to focus on his musical career.

[17] Dave made his television debut in May on BBC's Later... with Jools Holland where he performed his song ‘Picture Me’ alongside playing the piano.

[23] The EP Game Over was released on 3 November 2017 independently for streaming and digital download alongside the single "No Words".

[33] After a seven-month hiatus, Dave released the self-produced track "Funky Friday", featuring rapper Fredo, on 4 October 2018.

[39] The video for the song included many prominent black British figures with Damson Idris, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, Dina Asher-Smith, Ozwald Boateng, Raheem Sterling, Stormzy, Micheal Ward and Tiffany Calver all appearing.

The album debuted at number one in the UK, selling 26,390 copies in its first week, with 79% of its total generated by 26.3 million streams.

This gave it the biggest first-week streams for a British rap album, eclipsing Stormzy's Gang Signs & Prayer.

[46] Following the release of the album, Dave embarked on his first UK headline tour since 2017, which included two nights at Brixton Academy.

[51] Dave also performed for the first time at Reading and Leeds Festival headlining the BBC Radio 1 Stage.

[52] Dave made his acting debut in Netflix's revival and third series of Top Boy, playing the character Modie.

Dave featured on and produced, Fredo's track "Money Talks" which debuted at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

[64] The song was a single off Fredo's album Money Can't Buy Happiness which Dave executively produced under the name SANTAN.

[65][66] In April 2021, Dave released two songs as a two-track EP, "Titanium", and "Mercury", featuring Kamal, labelled as leftovers from his second album.

[67] Two months later, Dave announced his sophomore album, We're All Alone in This Together, alongside its cover art and release date.

[69] The music video features Dave and Stormzy surrounded by cars at the Aston Martin factory in Warwickshire and driving round the Silverstone Circuit.

[80] In August 2021, Dave won his third Ivor Novello Award alongside Fraser T Smith in the Best Contemporary Song category for the track "Children of the Internet".

[100] Dave has cited several artists for influencing both his rapping and production style, including Drake, Hans Zimmer, Kendrick Lamar, and Lana Del Rey,[10] while he revealed that while growing up, he'd relate to artists such as Devlin, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Kano.

[12][102] Omoregie is considered to be a conscious hip hop artist and is often praised for his "lyrical prowess" and wordplay.

Dean continued that Dave's music is a "blend of American artists", comparing him to Stormzy and Linton Kwesi Johnson, "for the way he chronicles black British life".

[104] Dave has been noted by music critics for his lyricism, with GQ writing that they "oscillate between the personal and the political with compelling emotional candour",[10] while he's also praised for his "intricately rehearsed ability to relay it to an audience".

[101] Throughout his career, Dave has experimented in several different genres, including afrobeats with "Location",[105] UK drill with "Clash",[106] and grime with "Thiago Silva".

[110] Upon the release of "Peace Dream", Dave had taken to Twitter to speak on the conflict.We raised close to £500,000 factoring everything in last Sunday for the charities in Palestine Congo and Sudan.