The new podcast is an offshoot of ‘Dissect’, an American podcast that is similarly concerned with unpacking albums. Whilst ‘Decode’ will concern itself entirely with British musical projects, ‘Dissect’ focusses on albums by artists from the US. Eight series in, the original podcast has explored Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’, and many more.

As one of the most high-profile UK hip-hop albums of the last decade, it is unsurprising that ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ has been selected as the first album to be analysed in this new British series. Following the narrative of a therapy session, the concept album is punctuated by spoken word interludes from Dave’s “therapist”, played by Fraser T. Smith. The project is wildly ambitious and epic in its scope, as Dave wrestles with childhood trauma, domestic abuse, institutional racism, and mental health issues.

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The man tasked with giving listeners a track-by-track breakdown of this extremely dense album is Kayo Chingonyi. The critically acclaimed Zambian-British poet said of Dave’s debut LP in a press release: “To me, the album connects with Britain’s long history of colonialism and in particular the effects of this on Black people, specifically, and immigrants to the UK more generally. The ways that institutions treat people. I feel like there’s a deep connection between this album and those issues. The renewed questions that people have been asking of institutions like the police force in the last few years are the questions Dave is wrestling with on this album.”

He added, “I feel like Decode offers an insight into how Dave’s kind of lyricism works on an album like Psychodrama because we talk about how skilful he is with words not just to tell a story but as a way of revelling in the musicality of language for its own sake… It was fun to talk about those poetic flourishes and how, in a very intentional way, Dave fashions a vivid portrait of life’s lowest lows and highest highs.”

As Chingonyi notes, ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ is intimately connected with the effects of institutional racism. In particular, ‘Black’ is a track that not only explores the Black British experience but considers the black identity in terms of the entire African diaspora. Dave raps, “Black is so much deeper than just African-American/ Our heritage been severed, you never got to experiment/ With family trees, ’cause they teach you ’bout famine and greed/ And show you pictures of our fam on their knees.”

Listening to ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ is often like going to the classroom to be taught, but the difference is that Dave is teaching you what you were not taught – that is the point.

Listen to Decode’s first episode covering the album’s opening track ‘Psycho’ below:

The track begins with Burna Boy’s mellow melodic vibe on the catchy chorus. Dave then jumps in with bars dedicated to his interactions with the opposite gender and party lifestyle “I preed that girl outrageous ting, but she can’t see cos I got shades and ting”. For this vocalised, head-nodding beat, production credits are split between Fraser Smith, Dave and one of the hottest producers for U.K hip-hop Jae5.

Dave is known to take creative control over his projects, assisting Kaylum Dennis with the video direction for these visuals. The video begins with a screenshot of an old post taken from Dave’s twitter in which he sets the scene for a ‘perfect’ 2019 where J Hus is free, girls are smiling and ‘Location’ is playing in the background. Dave decided to bring this vision to reality, set in Ibiza at Stormzy’s annual #MerkyFest, amoungst the bikini-clad women this star-studded video also includes familiar faces from the scene such as Konan, Aitch and Mist.

Picture the scenes. You’re drunk in Ibiza. It’s merky festival and you’ve had a couple cocktails, Hus is free, location is playing, Girls are smiling at you. What a 2019

— SANTAN (@Santandave1) March 29, 2019

Debuting at #1 on the U.K album charts, Dave’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ received widespread praise after being released March of this year. Focusing on topics such as mental health, racial inequality and domestic abuse, Dave manages to depict the gritty reality of life in London using heartfelt lyricism and excellent production in which he is credited on every song.

Dave will be heading across the UK in support of his forthcoming debut album, ‘Psychodrama’, which is set to arrive, on the 8th of March 8 2019. The South London rapper has confirmed that he will commence his 15-date tour, in Dublin, at the Olympia Theatre, on the 9th of April 2019, before heading across the UK. The rapper will conclude the tour, with two shows, in London, at the O2 Academy Brixton, on the 2nd and 3rd of May 2019.

PSYCHODRAMA THE TOUR. Tickets on sale Thursday at 9am. pic.twitter.com/wFItVpuT4B

— Santan (@Santandave1) February 25, 2019

The tour announcement comes after the London-based artist, whose full name is David Orobosa Omoregie, announced the release of the album along with the video for his latest single, ‘Black’, which follows on from his breakthrough LP ‘Game Over’, in 2017. The powerful video features a number of the 20-year-old’s heroes including Stormzy, Manchester City and England footballer Raheem Sterling, Radio 1 DJ Tiffany Calver and British athlete Dina Asher-Smith.

Previewing ‘Psychodrama’ with the release of its lead single, ‘Black’, on the 21st of February 2019, Dave has now shared the video for the track. Directed by Nathan James Tettey and Edem Wornoo, the video, was filmed in London; Manchester; and Lagos, Nigeria, is described as “a profound exploration of black identity, excellence and the diaspora”.

The rapper paved his way to the top of the Grim scene with millions of his rap songs on YouTube, not to mention a ground breaking collaboration with global music star Drake. Dave, who is also known as Santan Dave or Dave Santan, received his breakthrough, in 2015, on a platform named, Black Box, which saw him drop a single, ‘Blackbox Cypher’, with just audio on a mixtape.

Dave has established himself as one of the most promising young talents to emerge on the UK rap scene, in recent years. In 2018 he became the youngest-ever winner of an Ivor Novello award for his politically charged single, ‘Question Time’. As an independent artist, he has achieved more than 600m streams before releasing a full album and has performed several major collaborations, including with fellow London artist AJ Tracey.

The London-based artist, whose full name is David Orobosa Omoregie, announced the release of the album along with his brand new video for his single, ‘Black’, which follows on from his breakthrough LP ‘Game Over’, in 2017. The video features a number of the 20-year-old’s heroes including Stormzy, Manchester City and England footballer Raheem Sterling, Radio 1 DJ Tiffany Calver and British athlete Dina Asher-Smith.

Previewing ‘Psychodrama’ with the release of its lead single, ‘Black’, the 21st of February 2019, Dave has now shared the video for the track. Directed by Nathan James Tettey and Edem Wornoo, the video, was filmed in London; Manchester; and Lagos, Nigeria, is described as “a profound exploration of black identity, excellence and the diaspora”.

The South London rapper paved his way to the top of the Grim scene with millions of his rap songs on YouTube, not to mention a ground breaking collaboration with global music star Drake. Dave, who is also known as Santan Dave or Dave Santan, received his breakthrough, in 2015, on a platform named, Black Box, which saw him drop a single, ‘Blackbox Cypher’, with just audio on a mixtape.

Black, the first release from my debut album Psychodrama, is out now. Link to pre-order Psychodrama in my bio pic.twitter.com/q1TTlV7f9A

— Santan (@Santandave1) February 21, 2019

Musically, Dave does a lot more than just rap, if you have ever listened to his music you will know he also plays the piano. Speaking about this, Dave, said: “I started playing piano before I started rapping. It was after that the rap took off and it works well so now I do both. I taught myself. I kept practicing and learning by ear and then gradually got better and better, eventually I incorporated it into my music and now it works. I’m learning the guitar now, getting some help from Fraser T Smith.”

After the release of a number of successful singles, Dave released his debut EP, ‘Six Paths’, in 2016, to critical and commercial success. He went on to release his breakthrough EP, ‘Game Over’, in 2017, with its lead single ‘No Words’ charting within the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. Dave achieved chart success, last year with his Fredo collaboration, ‘Funky Friday’, which hit number one in the UK singles chart, in October 2018, which became his first number-one single as a lead artist. This success made Dave only the second artist to debut a track at number one in the UK, with the first being Drake.

Dave has established himself as one of the most promising young talents to emerge on the UK rap scene, in recent years. In 2018 he became the youngest-ever winner of an Ivor Novello award for his politically charged single, ‘Question Time’. As an independent artist, he has achieved more than 600m streams before releasing a full album and has performed several major collaborations, including with fellow London artist AJ Tracey.