Who is Dave, and does he really play the harp?

30 October 2025, 15:19 | Updated: 30 October 2025, 18:21

Worldwide rap sensation and piano enthusiast Dave is back after a four-year hiatus and this time he’s come equipped with a… harp?

Dave is one of the foremost UK rap and grime artists of our recent generation. However, his life and rise to fame wasn’t an easy one.

Born in Brixton, South London, in 1998 he spent his childhood without his father as he was deported to Nigeria on a visa-related issue. Dave’s mother also fled with his older brothers in fear of being deported, only reuniting with Dave three months later.

His family was left homeless as a result of this, living on buses.

At the age of seven, the family moved to Streatham which is where his passion for music began. He would practise rapping with his older brother and taught himself piano after being gifted an electric keyboard from his mother.

Now, Dave has just released his latest album named The Boy Who Played The Harp. Who knew that an electric keyboard would spark the musical imagination of one of the UK’s biggest rappers?

Read more: Brits rapper Dave is a classically trained pianist who loves movie soundtracks

How successful is Dave?

Dave was catapulted to stardom when his collab with AJ Tracey caught the attention of the then biggest name in rap – Drake.

His debut album Psychodrama was a critical and commercial success as it topped the UK rap album chart, having the biggest week-one success of any UK rap album. It went on to win Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards, as well as the coveted Mercury Prize.

3.8 million people tuned in to view his powerful, and controversial, performance of his single ‘Black’, where he updated the lyrics to respond the Grenfell Fire disaster.

Dave - Black (Live at The BRITs 2020)

His career continued to grow as he made his acting debut in Netflix’s Top Boy and in 2023 released his collaboration with Central Cee which became the longest running number one rap song in UK chart history.

Not only was it a hit nationally but it saw success in America, selling millions of copies and even ending up on Barack Obama’s annual playlist.

Dave then took a step back from music and the public eye.

Why is Dave dropping samples for the harp?

On 1 October, Dave took to his Instagram to announce his new album, The Boy Who Played The Harp.

The title of the album references the Book of Samuel from the Bible where Saul summoned a shepherd called David to play the harp to soothe him.

The Boy Who Played the Harp

The album incorporates gospel influences with afrobeats and UK hip-hop and explores themes of anxiety and success guilt. Dave has gone on record stating that he had been admitted to therapy after suffering with alcoholism.

He continues to use his music for political activism. The album contains many references from the oppression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the genocide in Palestine.

The album doesn’t stray too far away from Dave’s signature style, even including an interpolation of The Beatles song – ‘And I Love Her’.

Does Dave play the harp?

Despite being pictured sat with a harp for the album’s promotion – no. Dave is not playing the harp on this album, only guitar and vocals. However, the album does include music played on the harp as Eleanor Turner, a professional harpist and composer, is credited for the instrument.

The harp can be heard on tracks three, four and seven.

What’s next for Dave?

His new album is for sure a critical success, being described by Clash as “staggeringly powerful” and pushing Dave’s art to “higher levels”.

It is clear that Dave is continuing to explore new boundaries with his music, with his classical influences becoming clearer.

As a talented pianist, there is nothing stopping him from learning a new discipline.

Harp? French Horn? Bassoon?