Santan Dave or Dave for short, is not only quickly becoming the voice of the next generation of rap artists in the UK, but also becoming a radio favourite.
Born David Orobosa Omoregie in Brixton, South London, June ‘98 – Dave began writing music at an early age; working on lyrics during his early teens and starting production at 14 when his Mum gave him a piano. Just three years later in 2015, Dave made his first appearance on a platform named Blackbox where he appeared on a Mixtape Madness with the song ‘Mid Summer Night’, but his year didn’t stop there…
In the UK, if you want to be make it as a rapper, you’ve gotta get on the following: sb.tv, LinkUPtv & GRMDaily. When you get on one, you’ve got a shot of getting on one of the others, but realistically those YouTube channels are the stepping stones to truly launch an artist’s career. So, when Dave found himself stepping up for his turn at the infamous sb.tv ‘Warm Up Sessions’ in November that year, his path ahead began to unfold.
His debut release Six Paths came in September of 2016 and entered the UK Album charts at number 11. Pretty good for an 18 year old Rapper from arguably one of the dodgiest areas of London. So good, a certain Champagne Papi had his eye on the rising star’s release and signed a remix of his song ‘Wanna Know’ which hit number 51 in the UK Singles Charts. This was the first time I personally heard Santan’s name being thrown about properly on the Radio. I’d seen his Fire In The Booth back in May 2015 but this remix really catapulted Dave into the limelight…since then it’s been success after success. We’re talking about a man who is currently 20 years old and the last two songs he’s touched have been Top 10 hits. The last time the UK witnessed a similar sort of young success story was with Stormzy and he’s basically a national treasure now. Dave stands out, just like Stormzy did, because he has a very unique sound to most other UK rap artists. He signs, the beats are often slow and melodic & he’s a genuine storyteller when he wants to be, check out ‘My 19th Birthday’ or ‘How I Met My Ex’.
With Dave, every release is more notable than the last, but here’s a few that you simply have to listen to.
No Words
Off his Game Over’EP which dropped in November 2017, this song was a summer anthem which certified Dave’s place amongst the mainstream big hitters. Teaming up with MoStack, No Words’ was produced by Steel Banglez (who is responsible for a huge amount of the Dancehall/Grime bangers we have today) and with a line up like that, it’s no wonder it turned out to be his biggest charter at the time, making it to number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. I still hear it on the Radio now…
Samantha
This is my personal favourite. Featuring Dave on the keys, the beat is absolutely beautiful and is one of those songs that I just instantly fell for. With every Dave chorus, you know the lyrics are going to be easily memorable and fun to sing along to, he’s simply got it down & I think this is a prime example of exactly that. Featuring J Hus, who is currently behind bars, this song really is an ode to Dave’s talent.
Funky Friday
Number 1. Yeah that’s right. I saw the advert for the video for this song on Instagram about a week before it dropped and I remember thinking that it sounded hard then; it certainly did not disappoint. With his pal Fredo, this is without a doubt a heavy hitting grime track: the dark arpeggio, the 808s, the flows, its got it all. That makes this song the first ‘proper’ Grime track to ever hit number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. A huge hit and a great way to end his 2018.
Now if you missed last month’s edition of Across The Pond on Loski, you may have missed the fact Dave was also on Headie One’s recent Top 10 hit ‘18HUNNA’ which dropped in January 2019. Santan is on fire right now and he’s been hinting in interviews with Radio 1 following the success of ‘Funky Friday’, that his debut album should be expected early this year. So where is it?! All the elements are in place for this to be a number 1 album for the rising star & there really is no limit to how far he will go this year.
