I played this song “Olive Oil” for a friend and he said that Dave B is reminiscent of the TDE camp. To quote my friend directly, he said that Dave B sounds like “a mixture of everyone at TDE”. I think he meant this as a compliment, but even so, I think saying that Dave’s a “TDE guy” puts him in a box. Which isn’t fair because a lot of Dave B’s music is outside of the boundaries of what we’ve been accustomed to at TDE.
At times, Dave B combines socially conscious lyrics with some silky smooth R&B vocals. Other times, Dave is able to craft personal love songs for the ladies, sometimes over faster tempos like on “Polaroid” where Dave whispers on the hook,
“Send ya boy a naked photo, photo/
Just make sure you’re all alone though, alone though/
Hop out the shower, know you got me, got me/
That body lookin’ so godly, godly/”
This song should be a hit. Dude has a fresh sound, period. What excites me most about Dave B is his ability to:
1) craft a well-written, well-structured, melodic song
2) his ability to rap and sing proficiently with smooth transitions
3) his unique perspectives – when was the last time you heard a rapper spit a bar about argan oil? You probably haven’t. On Olive Oil, Dave raps to the ladies,
“Don’t know who you listen to now/
But baby-bun me while you condition it down/
That argan oil, that olive oil, that coconut/
It all becomes much better once you open up/“
On “Worth It” Dave B turns the bouncy bass-heavy instrumental into a post-party serenade, even evoking Lauryn Hill.
Dave B’s 2015 release Punch Drunk, was a great display of his rapping and melodic talents. There are certain points on the project where his voice and take on flows and melodies reminded me a bit of GoldLink, like on the aforementioned song “Polaroid” (sidenote: shoutout to Jake One for handling a majority of the production on Punch Drunk). His newest project Tomorrow was one of my most anticipated 2016 releases. We will be reviewing it shortly!