Dave has announced his third album, titled ‘The Boy Who Played the Harp’, and it is due to be released later this month.
The Brixton-born, Streatham-raised rapper announced the news on his social media pages earlier today (October 1), with the recording arriving on Friday October 24. No further details, other than the name, cover art and release date, have been revealed; however, the album is available for pre-order.
This announcement comes after Dave wiped his social media pages earlier this week, and pointed fans to a brand new sign-up page – prompting speculation over what this means.
The upcoming release from Dave will follow back-to-back Number one albums, ‘Psychodrama’, released in 2019, and 2021’s ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’.
NME gave Dave’s 2021 album ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’ five stars in a review. The project, which featured James Blake and Stormzy, was commended for its confidence and ability to tell stories through its clever wordplay and smooth production.
The review concluded: “As illustrated throughout the stunning ‘Psychodrama’, Dave has always been the one to rap traditionally, using hip-hop for what it was intended to do: give a voice to the voiceless. He has always been able to show the inner-workings of many young Londoners in a clean and universal way that can perhaps help the whole world to better understand the Black British experience, especially that of Black men.
“Always ready to tell the hard truths for those who can’t, Dave has proved again that he’s a voice of a generation, sitting pretty atop his peers when it comes to making unforgettable London rap classics.”
‘We’re All Alone In This Together’ debuted at the top spot in the charts with over 74,000 chart sales – 56 per cent of which were physical copies – making it the highest opening week of 2021.
Besides being the chart’s biggest opening week since November 2019, when Coldplay’s ‘Everyday Life’ opened with 81,000 chart sales, Dave’s latest offering has also claimed the biggest opening week for a UK rap album since Tinie Tempah’s debut ‘Disc-Overy’ in October 2010.
In July, Dave joined Drake on stage at Wireless Festival for ‘Wanna Know’ – before being joined afterwards by Central Cee for “Sprinter’. Earlier this year, he spoke out about his waning confidence in Manchester United, and said as long as the team is owned by the Glazers it “will never know peace”.
The rapper has been a longtime supporter of the Manchester team, and made numerous mentions to the club in his tracks, including shouting out player Amad Diallo in 2023 in his track ‘UK Rap’.