Album Review: The Boy Who Played The Harp
- Derek Foster
- Oct 29
- 5 min read
Hip Hop/Rap has arguably been the most impactful genre to grace music. So much so that it’s evolved to being global around the world. A place that has been carving their own lane within the genre is the United Kingdom, hosting several major artists such as Stormzy, Skepta, and several others. But this review is about David Omoregie, best known by his artist name “Dave”.
Ahead of this album, he had only dropped two solo albums. In 2019 (Psychodrama) and
2021 (We’re all alone in this together), both were well received, with Psychodrama winning multiple awards. Dave, however, wasn’t the most public figure, so you wouldn’t hear much from him if it weren’t in regard to music. Thus leaving a lot of his fans eagerly anticipating what he would do next.
He would tease that the album was in its early phases in December of 2023. In May of 2025, He
would confirm the album release this year by saying, “I’m just finishing this album, and then it’s
on. This year it's gonna be with you”. The following teaser would be in Early September, when his
website would then have a yellow loading bar and an email sign-up. On the 1st of October, Dave
would then announce the album’s title, cover, and release date(that being October 24th).
The Boy Who Played The Harp. The title itself alludes to the Book of Samuel in the Bible (1 Samuel 16:14-23), where King Saul summoned the young, brave shepherd, David(convenient name, right?) , to play the harp and soothe him when an evil spirit troubled him. The tracklist dropped on the 20th of October, before being released on its announced date.
The major thing I say about this album is it is both extremely powerful and just as personal. A massive focus on self-reflection. His storytelling ability has somehow gotten even better following the last two studio albums. The album is only 10 tracks, and he does not waste a
line for this entire project. The intro, History, sets the tone of this album, where he talks about
what he’s experienced living in South London, and the history they would end up making. The
triumphant sound in the song’s instrumental and lyrics are empowering.
Although I would argue almost every track is a standout, I want to focus on a select couple
of songs. The song Chapter 16 features an Artist by the name of Kano. Kano is very much one of
the originals of the UK rap scene, and the track is centered around the conversation they had at
a restaurant. It’s a really dope moment to hear because you're listening to a man speak to one
of his idols, and the idol is speaking back to him. It’s such great dialogue and even the title, ties
back to Christianity, alluding again to The Bible’s Book of Samuel, Chapter 16 where Samuel
anoints David as king – metaphorizing how Kano passes the torch over to Dave.
Probably one of the most personal and vulnerable rap songs I’ve ever heard is on this album.
Selfish, the 6th track on the album, is insane. Questioning one’s own self-esteem and assurance,
past decisions, and the idea of being alone in the future. In the first verse, he reminisces on past
relationships, “What if my effort of pullin' you close are pushin' you further? What if I'm selfish?
What if the reason they call me "The Greatest", Is also the reason that me and you livin' on
different pages? What if I'm too much? What if I settled and I didn't fight? What if my fear of doin' it wrong's the reason I haven't been doin' it right? What if I'm selfish?”.
Formatting basically an entire verse as just questions, rhetorical ones at that, is a genius concept. James Blake delivers an absolutely incredible verse, but then you get to the 3rd verse of the song. The lines about his experience in Therapy. In this verse, he says: “I'm ashamed for the days that I said that I changed, I'm a cheat, Sat in a therapist chair cryin' like a baby in the middle of a Harley Street, Like I'm fightin' this sickness that I can't beat, I'm disloyal, and then I go mad, reflection tellin' me I'm just like my dad, And this white woman tellin' me it ain't so bad, middle of my sentence she cut me off, like, "Sorry, David, we don't have any more time, Your appointment till 4 and it's 3:55", Bruh, I feel like she wouldn't even care if I died.”
Hearing that for the first time as a person who has experienced therapy felt personal to me, because those were the same questions I’ve had in the beginning of the process. Despite the gaps in success and life experience, the feelings are so very real to anybody who’s ever experienced any feelings of depression or self-doubt.
The song “My 27th Birthday” gives us a look into Dave’s mindset at age 27, as he raps for
nearly 8 minutes. Even explaining the change in how he feels about his career, “I know I love
music, but I question the rest of myself, like, why don't you post pictures? Or why don't you
drop music?, Or why not do somethin' but sittin' and stressin' yourself? Ten years I've been in
the game and I won't lie, it's gettin' difficult. This sh*t used to be spiritual”.
The Final Track, sharing the same name as the album’s title, has Dave reflecting about his life
choices and what he’s stood up for in regards to world issues. Whilst also continuing to draw the
connection between his birth name of David and The “David” from the Bible. He delivers
powerful closing to his verse and the album “My ancestors, my ancestors told me that my life is
prophecy, And it's not just me, it's a whole generation of people gradually makin' change, There
ain't a greater task, Shift that, make a name, make a start, They don't know what they're facin'
when they ask, With the will of David in my heart, The story of the boy who played the harp”.
This album is incredible. A masterful 3rd album from Dave. I don’t believe I’ve heard such
vulnerability be presented in a very long time. And to do so, whilst also delivering so many
empowering lyrics at the same is insane to me. I suggest you give this album a listen if you
enjoy storytelling in music but also, I suggest because it truly is high quality from start to finish.