“Voices” and the Burna Boy-assisted “Location” are almost necessarily light-hearted given the album’s content but continue to prove Dave’s seamless skills at accessibility-if “Funky Friday” and “No Words” hadn’t demonstrated that already.
Psychodrama is varied, levelling the dense subject matter with upbeat, clubbier bangers. Education is twofold, through school and life on road-“Teachers was givin’ man tests, same time the mandem were givin’ out testers”-and Dave’s storytelling gives an honest portrayal applicable to every ends in inner-city London. The conflict continues in “Streatham”, an ode to his South London sides, in which kids are shown completely opposite sides of the tracks on a daily basis. Smith, JAE5, Nana Rogues and Dave himself create the harsh and, at times, minimal wall of sound off which the album’s varied stories bounce. Production across the board by the likes of Fraser T. Dave sounds conflicted, yo-yoing between happiness and sadness in an environment that breeds physical and emotional violence-“I don’t wanna be saved,” he repeats-but his low-barrel drawl is almost a soothing tonic to the pain he feels as he leads a life he describes as ‘psychotic’. Employing the thematic motif of a psychotherapist, the album is a prolonged therapy session for the young MC, with opening track “Psycho” an ominous introduction. Santan Dave has long carried the label of a conscious, intelligent and thoughtful storyteller, but throughout this set, he outdoes even himself, transforming sprawling anecdotes into concise soliloquies that don’t impede on the overarching message of each track. However, “Black” was only the opening salvo across 11 tracks and 51 minutes, Psychodrama is an intense, moving and ultimately tenacious insight into loss, abuse and identity. The South London rapper made a mission statement in the lead up to his opus, following up his number one single “Funky Friday” with the racially-charged, celebratory “Black”-an anthem designed to empower our community but spun a different way by parts of a white populace with their racist knickers in a twist.
Of all the album releases so far this year, Dave’s was one of the most anticipated.
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