Dave East has been ramping up the hype for his upcoming album HOFFA, and this past weekend he came through with a few intriguing developments. For one, the album will be entirely produced by Harry Fraud, who has been on a tear lacing projects like Benny The Butcher’s The Plugs I Met 2, Jim Jones’ The Fraud Department, and Curren$y’s The Outrunners.
In addition to boasting Fraud’s gifted mind behind the boards, Dave East’s HOFFA will be curated by hip-hop’s self-declared “Great Orchestrator” Westside Gunn. In fact, East recently connected with Gunn at the Buffalo Kids Gallery to unveil the album’s artwork, a painting of East’s likeness brought to life by Mariella Angela. In keeping with the album’s title, Angela confirms that she drew inspiration from a picture of the real Jimmy Hoffa, sharing a side-by-side on her IG page.
On his own page, East shared a glimpse at the music to come, previewing a bar-driven track over footage from the Buffalo Kids event. “Gunpowder inside my whiskey, blowing sour vibing to Missy,” he spits, over Fraud’s slow-burning and authoritative production. “Misdemeanor Elliott, these rap n***as is delicate / I’ll never switch, I been on some shit since Perry Ellis fits.”
Check out the snippet and footage below, and look for Dave East’s upcoming HOFFA album — produced by Harry Fraud and curated by Westside Gunn — to arrive on July 21st. For more from East, check out a snippet that the rapper recently previewed, presumably set to appear on the new project.