Signed by Nas and under the RocNation brand Dave East looks
like somebody that is going to make waves in the music industry.
Like Puff Daddy once famously declared, "Its a h*** up
in Harlem," and hailing from those harrowing Uptown blocks— East Harlem to
be exact— is local hero Dave East.
Standing at 6’5” with a gruff-voice to match, the fiery MC
went from NBA hopeful to one of the Big Apple’s top rising talents. And while
the former gig would've been a cool look for the former athlete, the latter
was, and always has been, where he knew he belonged. “I always was rapping
but was just joking around, he recalls while sitting with REVOLT.
"I
used to write rewrite Ma$e records, listen to Jay Z and rewrite their songs. I
was [also] playing ball [at the time], I had two scholarships and went to
school and all that to play basketball, but I always loved rap." Once he
decided to move past the idea of playing ball, all signs pointed towards his
passion: hip-hop.
Fast forward to earlier this summer, when after exciting the
streets with a string of freestyles, including notable joints like “Chi-Raq” and “Warm
It Up,” the East Harlem brought everything full circle with the
release of his free album, Black Rose. Spanning 15 tracks,
with production from the likes of Rico Beats (“Red Bottoms”) to Sean C LV (“The
Town”), the free album details Dave’s stark reality, one that he wears on his
sleeve and brilliantly details through rhyme. Pensive lyrics on tracks
like “Around Here” and “Free Charlie” paint those pictures perfectly, and
they're the reason why Dave considers himself as the Black Rose of
his city.
“Black Rose, I feel like there’s a cloud over the East side,
just the ghettos in general, I feel like I’m a rose trying to get up out of
that.” Doing so through rhyme, the rhymer is by far one of the city’s brightest
and if you need any proof look no further than Black Rose, which
oozes with New York flavor.
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