Dave East brings Harlem’s flare with the spirit of Brooklyn’s King MC on his new single, “DAMN.”
Swizz Beatz delivered the second single for the third season of Godfather Of Harlem featuring Dave East this weekend. “DAMN” puts Dave East center stage as jazzy percussion and airy vocal samples — handled by Mike Keys and DJ Khalil — lead the record. The rapper takes fans on a trip from the days of mobbing through Harlem, detailing some of the hardships he faced along the way. At the same time, he also pays homage to Biggie with an interpolation of “Warning.”
Though he isn’t directly mentioning Bumpy Johnson, Dave East channels the famed drug trafficker’s energy with a nod to Green Day. “We was born as kings/ Cruising through this boulevard of broken dreams,” East raps on the record. It’s an exemplary display of East’s vivid lyricism and gritty delivery that turned him into one of NYC’s most compelling lyricists since his mixtape run.
While he remains one of the busiest men in showbusiness, Swizz Beatz continues to serve as the executive producer of Epix’s The Godfather Of Harlem soundtrack. Every week, they debuted a new single prior to each episode. Ahead of the season premiere, Swizz Beatz previously enlisted Jadakiss for their new collaboration, “Hustle, Repeat.“
Dave East blessed fans with his last body of work, Book Of David in November. The project served as a collaborative effort alongside DJ Drama and Buda & Grandz.
Check out Dave East’s new single below and sound off in the comments.
Quotable Lyrics
I was watchin’ out from lobbies, rooftops, and was in between
Took a 12 hour drive to Atlanta to pick up hammers
Police scanners, in the dashboard, rearview mirror came with cameras
Gotta eat before we hit the road, we ain’t stoppin’ for a sandwich
If they pull us, the driver never panic, he start talkin’ Spanish