“Pursue a proper passion, push the margin past, put the World up on your back.”
A typical day for us here at the DopeHouse involves raking through nearly hundreds (and I can attest to the fact that Shake and Meka are hit with thousands) of submissions, from an influx of newly minted, or up-and-coming rappers. Sure, the majority of them are struggle rappers — and they usually get tossed in the virtual trash bin. Sorry, guys/gals, keep trying! Then there are the song-of-the-week artists who deliver their music periodically, then vanish just as quickly as they appeared.
On very rare occasions, we come across someone remarkably exceptional, where the excitement can’t be contained. It must be shared immediately, yet there’s that sliver of hipster in you that wants to be selfish and keep it to yourself. But the DopeHouse’s foundation was basically built on sharing new artists, and their carefully crafted music with you.
Our resident Editorial Content Director Andreas Hale recently passed along this video from buzzing Seattle emcee Dave B.
The video for “Leaves” — produced by fellow Seattle beatsmith Jake One — is a hypnotic reveal about what life is really like in Em City. “I just wanted to self reflect and talk about real life. I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle up here in Seattle. So in the video, I wanted to show what it really looks like to me… what people should see when they think of this city,” explains Dave in the press release.
The gifted wordsmith, who cites Kirk Franklin, Aaliyah, Andre 3000, Theolonious Monk and Jimi Hendrix as major influences — attempts to maneuver through advice the world gives off, while simultaneously avoiding hidden cliches and trivial obstacles.
Stream Dave’s Punch Drunk EP below.
