David Dallas is a New Zealand emcee from Papatoetoe, Auckland who has been making waves internationally since the early 2000s. Since seeing his first Hip-Hop show at NZ’s iconic Powerstation venue, David Dallas was heavily influenced growing up on the staples of 90s Hip-Hop including Snoop Dogg, Mobb Deep, 2pac, Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Canibus and Jay-Z amongst others. Coming up himself through the tried and tested path dabbling in battle rap before getting a career breaking feature on Scribe’s “Not Many – The Remix!” with Savage of The Deceptikonz under the previous emcee alias Con Psy, David Dallas has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Coming up on Dirty Records, David Dallas began his career as a part of the duo Frontline, a producer and MC group with Nick Maclaren in NZ. Frontline released their debut album Borrowed Time in 2005 that won the award for ‘Best Urban Album’ at the 2006 NZ Music Awards. His debut solo album Something Awesome was released in 2009 at a time when he caught Kanye West’s attention through the track “Big Time.” The album itself reached #1 on NZ’s iTunes chart, was awarded Best Urban/Hip Hop album at the 2010 NZ Music Awards and was shortlisted for the inaugural Taite Music Prize in 2010.
Following these local successes and gaining broad international attention, David Dallas signed to Duck Down Records in 2011 and released his second solo studio album The Rose Tint EP. This was initially a free download and after it was downloaded more than 50,000 times a deluxe retail edition went on sale later in 2011. It quickly became NZ’s highest selling Hip-Hop album of the year and was nominated for 3 NZ Music Awards. In September 2012, Dallas released the Buffalo Man EP as a free download, with all songs inspired by Jamiroquai.
In late 2013, Dallas’ third solo studio album Falling Into Place was released and debuted at #2 on the NZ album chart. Its lead single Runnin was certified Platinum and the second single “The Wire” featuring Ruby Frost was certified Gold. Falling Into Place received four nominations at the 2014 NZ Music Awards and won Best Male Artist and Best Urban/Hip Hop Album. Dallas’ music has extended beyond Hip-Hop circles and has featured in the wider entertainment environment on a diverse range of platforms such as WWE Music Group, Madden 25, FIFA 14 as well as in movies. After a brief hiatus, David Dallas has recently released the excellent 13-track Hood Country Club to critical claim and is currently finishing off an extended tour of Australia with Horrorshow.
David Dallas has also toured throughout America, Canada and Europe as well as sharing the stage with the likes of Eminem, Apollo Brown, Joey Bada$$, Run The Jewels, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Just Blaze amongst others. David Dallas has also worked with Freddie Gibbs, Buckshot (the co-owner of Duck Down Music and also the lead MC from Black Moon and Boot Camp Clik), P-Money, Che Fu and Mareko, solidifying himself as one of the leading emcees to come out of the New Zealand/Australian region able to crack the broader international market and certainly one to watch in the near future. David Dallas is certainly back.
