First Impressions With Sufiatu: How Dave’s transparency on PSYCHODRAMA made it one of the best albums in recent years

David Orobosa Omoregie, you are the embodiment of all that is good about the south side of the River Thames.

This review is long overdue, Dave has unquestionably dropped one of the best albums of 2019. PSYCHODRAMA his debut studio album dropped on the 8^th March 2019 and debuted at no.1 in the charts, consisting of 11 tracks featuring collaborations with Afrobeat giant Burna Boy on “Location”, JHUS on “Disaster” & Ruelle on “Lesley”.

As a young black woman, born and bred in London, growing up on a council estate in South East London, this album marks a revelation for me. Covering topics such as love, abusive relationships and so on, the album carries an overarching theme on the conversation of mental health. If you were to tell me 6 years ago that I’d listen to an album released by a British rapper addressing mental health and the issues that black people face growing up in urban areas in London, then I’d probably say you were lying. Of course, there are other albums by British artists which touch on these pressing issues, but at this stage in my life this album produces nostalgia, David could potentially have been a student at my secondary school. We all have different experiences however we will all experience something which will affect our mental health at some point within our lives.

I recently had a conversation with a few friends about how the system has failed us, how the system had failed young black people. Mental health is a topic that had never been properly addressed to us in our schools, I didn’t realise that I was suffering from anxiety and depression until I moved to university. “Psycho” is by far my favourite track on the album hands down there is a certain point in life where we realise that the burden that we are carrying is too heavy and that we need help. The build-up of Dave explaining the pain and struggle along with the delusion, neglect and in denial that most of us face and experience through life leading to such a moving breakdown where he spits about the realisation of his depression and actually coming to terms with his reality. This track is unbelievably powerful, I have never listened to a song where the music amplified the raw emotion within our urban culture. Dave has added to the discussion of such an important topic and we get to meet him on a personal level through this album.

All we can hope for from artists is to receive art which is pure and genuine, and this is what PSYCHODRAMA represents. In an interview with The Guardian, when speaking about the song “Black,” David said “This track is my experience”, and that is all we need to know.

Watch my YouTube review of Dave’s PSYCHODRAMA below!

You can listen to Dave’s PSYCHODRAMA below via Spotify, and don’t forget to support the art!