A Phenomenal Work of Art
It takes a very self confident and self aware artiste to pick an album release date the same day as Kanye West, even though this case was quite different, with Dave announcing his release date long before Kanye did, rap fans were ready to have a field day with both projects, but with Ye’s failure to drop his work as promised, all eyes and ears were placed on another extremely anticipated body of work, Dave‘s ‘We’re All alone in This Together‘.
Listening to this project, the most noticeable factor in his lyrics is the level of growth that Dave, real name David Orobosa Omoregie has acquired over the years and the pain that comes with reality coupled with success.
Undeniably superseding of his debut project ‘Psychodrama‘ which was a multi-award winning body of work, ‘We’re All alone in This Together‘ is more than just a rap album, it’s many things in one. It’s a journal about his(Dave) life, first as a human being, and then as an artiste.
It’s poetry so polished, articulated and presented in it’s most enjoyable form. Another thing that can be said about this work is how much of a Hip-Hop masterpiece it is.
On the opening track, ”We’re All Alone” He takes us on a trip to the struggles of his youth, the pain of having an incarcerated sibling who’s supposed to be a role model to him, also having to share a bed with his mum at a point when he was still pissing himself, he raps (”I told Mummy I ain’t nothing Like my Father, I’ma show her there’s a different definition to love”), this lyrics further suggests that Dave has had his own fair share of daddy issues and battles with depression at such a young age even with all the glitz and glamour.
He delivered pristine bars and at he same time delivered great words of upliftment to his fans and people who might be facing a kind of reality similar to his.
On the next three tracks he delved into more diverse topics, starting with race on the track ‘Verdansk‘ were he says he uses a “white man’s face” to book an Airbnb, but then it was a quick touch on that particular topic.
On the next track ‘Three Rivers‘ he raps about the Windrush generation but also the situation of Eastern European and Middle Eastern immigrants, adding sampled news reports to the piano and strings playing in the background as he raps.
Meanwhile on the songs ‘System‘ and ‘Lazarus‘, he infuses his Nigerian heritage, exploring with the Nigerian Afro-beats sounds with guest vocals from WizKid(on System) and BOJ(on Lazarus).
The incredibly talented group of producers on this album should be commended for showcasing their prowess on each and every tune that they each contributed to. James Blake, Jae5, Kyle Evans, and Dave himself are listed among the producers.
Some tracks exhibits some aura of sadness and heartbreak, some emanating from relationship hiccups, especially on the song ‘Both sides of a smile‘ (featuring James Blake) which is eight minutes long, and the track ‘Heart Attack‘ which had him giving a thorough outpour on his personal battles, even as the beat ends, he kept going, letting it all out and then the track closes with a long voice clip from his mother who can be heard in a shaky tone that sounded like she was in a sobbing state, which further intensifies the theme of the song itself.
We’re All Alone in This Together is a one hour long masterpiece that could be depicted into a best selling novel, or a blockbuster biographic movie, Dave served us nothing less than a phenomenal work of art.
