Sprouting from 11 years of age to now, I always wanted to go see Lloyd Banks live in concert. Hunger For More was a classic for my rotational spin. As I toss my ear around in 2016, my music rotation lacked a certain feeling. I craved that bellicose-type New York sound, the descriptive details within each bar, the hunger, and the drive to keep pushing. I needed something I could feel, but with rap lyrics. As I’ve explained before, Dave East does just that on Kairi Chanel. His formula isn’t new. He’s done it on his projects Black Rose and Hate Me Now.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Fullen
Photo Credit: Nicholas Fullen
Abruptly, the curtains reach their sunrise and a 6’3-6’4” rapper appears. Covered in tattoos, clothes favoriting black, Jordan 5 and Supreme collab sneaks; Dave East has officially arrived in Washington D.C. This isn’t his first spin around the city. East went to High School in Montgomery County, MD. He also attended Towson University for basketball, briefly. He has even spent time in a Baltimore jail.
Doing his “Call My Coach” verse a capella, East rapped about his days in Maryland.
Trip to Baltimore, I got some work I let ’em test it out
We back and forth silver spring, my cousin’s selling weapons now…. I had the Jeep, would go to Richmond almost every weekendI never seen Shook graduated from SpringbrookCollege dropout, hit the trap, I know how them fiends look
One of East’s most sentimental and heartfelt tracks is “Numb.” The song goes over all of the pain that East once felt, but now doesn’t due to the numbness. It’s been this way since the passing of his cousin Malik Carter. Carter was instrumental in motivating East to rap. To see East take his talents to different locations, is destiny. It was written for this gifted-talented rapper to make something happen. From Ravenswood Project to Harlem, theres’s still a lot to be seen from this Def Jam-signee.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Fullen
