“My 24th Birthday” by Dave
We already have a sound idea of what Dave, the most-conscious A list rapper from the UK, is about on “My 24th Birthday”. On top of being more intellectually-minded than the average hip-hop artist, his songs also tend to be pretty much full-length spittin’ and not of the repetitive types. Or put more plainly he tends to say a lot in his singles, and concisely capturing it all is always a challenge.
So in this case we’ll use a linear approach, pointing out the most interesting aspects of what’s being said without getting too wordy ourselves.
Yes, his 24th birthday did recently pass, and first and foremost the vocalist appears reflective and thankful to a Higher Power. Of course Dave’s is a success story, so he also celebrates being able to ‘retire his mum’ while simultaneously lamenting that one Abdullah obviously didn’t live long enough to partake of his come-up.
I Remember where I Come From
With Dave being an A lister and all, you may sometimes see him sitting pretty in magazines and stuff like that. But if there’s one constant theme in his music, it’s that he hasn’t forgotten where he comes from. So shortly after acknowledging making it big, we find the vocalist flipping the script and rather noting “how many single mums” are in a position in life where things are incredibly hard. And this leads to him once again giving a shoutout to his own mom, who raised him and his brothers on her own.
Some Elements of Romance
Shortly afterwards, Dave goes through a number of romance-related musings. And what it all seems to boil down to is him recognizing that finding a soulmate is truly a gift and apparently not being entirely convinced that he has done so thus far.
Some More Musings
Later Dave brags, if you will, about spending a pretty penny on house renovations, only not to be able to enjoy such due to stalkers or the surveillance state being on his behind. And to note, earlier in the song he also damns the (UK) government for stressing its citizens out.
The vocalist then implies that his musical journey began, as an impoverished youth, when a teacher taught him how to play the guitar, and the rest is history. Then the song takes more of a street-based turn, with Dave noting his disdain for snitches, touting his high standing in the ‘hood and what have you.
Most of the rest of this extended piece that follows is basically a reiteration of the above. Sometimes Dave sounds introspective, at others, materialistic, but the one thing that really appears to be on his mind, understandably at his age as implied, is marriage, family and etc.
The song eventually closes out with Dave giving yet another shoutout to the Lord. This time the rapper acknowledges in the process that even though he has reached the full adult age of 24, he still has a lot of spiritual growing up to do. He then closes out by insinuating that all he has achieved has been primarily in the name of honoring his mother, or that being the main benefit of his success, that now they’re both chillin’.
And the lyrics finally conclude with Dave asserting, in a roundabout way, that he never has or will sell out.
The Long and Short of “My 24th Birthday”
So yes, this piece, ultimately, can be deemed braggadocious in nature. However, it isn’t that the artist at hand is believing his own press, so to speak. Dave has apparently had such an upbringing which, coupled with his natural disposition, such that he is not afraid to also present himself as being humble and very much spiritual. So to reiterate, it’s as if this particular vocalist has made it big by the age of 24 and knows that’s something to be proud of but still understands that there’s more important things in life.
Release of “My 24th Birthday”
Neighbourhood Records introduced this track to the world, as a surprise release, on 24 June 2022. This was three weeks after Dave’s actual 24th birthday on the 5th of the month. And to note, the rapper did drop a similarly-minded track in 2017, with that particular song being called “My 19th Birthday”.
Dave’s most-recent album, “We’re All Alone in This Together”, was a major critical success in his homeland of the UK but didn’t overwhelm commercially. However, he made up for it by dropping a non-album single, “Starlight“, earlier in 2022, which managed to achieve BPI platinum status.
Credits
Dave wrote and produced “My 24th Birthday”.
