Dave East Survives His Debut Album Release

Jacob Egozi, Staff Writer|December 11, 2019

Survival is Dave East’s debut album and was released on Nov. 8. This album was first released through Youtube as a five part series and this shows how different Dave East’s style is from other current rappers.

East started to release this project on Youtube on Oct. 29 and 8 days later it was released on all platforms. It was released on Youtube as a series of videos and was long awaited by fans. Before releasing the album he teased its release date by uploading a preview to Youtube causing fans to go crazy. East has a very different style in music whether it’s with lyrics, rhythm, or even how to release his music.

East tends to use more of an old-school rap style throughout this album and this makes him very different from other rappers in today’s world. His third song, Godfather 4, contains a future from 90s rapper Nas and is just one of many very lyrical songs on this project. His fourth song on the album “Need A Sign” sends a very powerful message and talks about his life before rapping. He was getting kicked out of school and mixed up with the wrong crowd and committing crimes. In the beginning of this song a lady is talking about all of this and East’s dream to become a rapper. The next song on the album, Seventeen, also talks about his past life. This song is also very lyrical and talks about his life at seventeen years old and how he had no money and all his teachers said he would never graduate. He talks about how it is a dream come true to have become so successful, especially coming from nothing.

The main reason East is so different and in my opinion an amazing rapper is because of his lyrics. He isn’t like other current rappers who talk about money, guns, and girls instead he talks about his life before success, tells a story, and uses clever lyrics to paint a picture in the mind of the listener. His style is very similar to old rap music in that he has more rhythmic beats and lyrics that are important. He also has a very different flow and tone when rapping and doesn’t scream any of his lyrics, instead he gives off more of a mellow vibe and constantly changes his flow to show passion.

One of the last songs on Survival is Daddy Knows and this song is probably the most sentimental song on this album. I think this song is very powerful because it is entirely dedicated to his daughter. The song starts with his baby daughter talking and saying “I love you” and East goes on to talk about his daughter. He talks about what it’s like to be a dad and how he would give anything for his daughter. He also references a song that Nas wrote about his daughter and how East now understands everything Nas was saying. This song was very impactful and I think it is very cool that he dedicated an entire song to his daughter. East also dedicates the last song on Survival, The Marathon Continues, to Nipsey Hussle. He talks about being a gang member and how powerful and inspiring Nipsey Hussle was to his life. He talks about wearing clothes that Nipsey created and talks about his former friendship with Nipsey before he was killed. The fact that East has two songs dedicated to important people in his life on this project is a very powerful thing to do and this song ends the album perfectly.

Survival was awaited by fans but in my opinion greatly underrated. This album only sold 3 thousand copies in the first week and while debuting on the Billboard Top 200 debuted at 164. East is not a very well known rapper despite all of his talent and hardwork clearly put into this album and every other aspect of life to be where he is today. Many other rappers talk about pointless aspects in life or write lyrics that make no sense but are more famous than East. I think this project is just one of many that will start to slowly change rap to how it used to be in the 90s.

This album was very hard to rank but very enjoyable to listen to and review. It was very enjoyable because every song was good in its own way and every aspect of the album was executed very well. The production, lyrics, features, and beats were all implemented perfectly and every aspect of each song complemented each other. Survival also seemed to tell a different story about East’s life in each song. It was very interesting to see how he incorporated a message into the songs and still managed to have clever lyrics and create good music. Another reason this album was so enjoyable is because every song is different from the next, whether it’s the beat and flow or if it’s more old fashioned or closer to today’s rap. This was an amazing debut for East and I think the first of many incredible releases along with a very successful career ahead.

Personal Album Rating: 10/10

Personal Song Ranking