By Declan Devilbiss

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:: Internationally acclaimed author Declan tells of his sonic trip across the pond…  

:: April 30, 2026

:: When I first started listening to British rap, I was doing it as a joke. They had funny accents and often ridiculous bars, and above all, the idea of being “from the streets” in the UK seemed impossible to me. 

That all changed when I first heard “Location” by Dave and Burna Boy. The effortless combination of hip-hop and afrobeats was mesmerizing. Rap was born in New York, but there was nothing American about what I was hearing. Hip-hop had taken on a life of its own across the pond and shaped a distinctive, global new sound.  

A few years later, I was standing up front at Dave’s show in D.C. The energy in the crowd was pulsing. A genre of hip-hop that had almost no following 10 years ago had us packed like sardines in the Anthem, pushing, dancing, and sweating for the entire night. It felt like Dave found the perfect audience in D.C. for three connected reasons: soccer, activism, and global influence. 

Being a Dave fan means there’s a high likelihood that you’re a diehard soccer fan. When my friend and I arrived at the venue, everybody in line had a jersey on: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Arsenal, etc. Immediately, I realized that I was in over my head — the hours spent waiting for the show to start was a nonstop debate about players I had never heard of. 

Even though I had no idea what these blokes were talking about, I pretended that I did, and the shared love of the game made the crowd feel intimate — like everyone knew each other. Soccer is the only truly global sport, and the audience that Dave has found in the U.S. is deeply global as well. 

The first two people my friend and I met in line were from Palestine and Germany. During the concert, we had a group from Congo to our right and Brits to our left. The diversity in the venue was striking, but not at all surprising. The DMV is the most diverse area in the nation, and Dave’s audience is just as diverse: the city with the second-most Dave listeners on Spotify (behind London) is Lagos, Nigeria. 

The best song of the night (coincidentally my favorite Dave song) was “Raindance,” his collaboration with Nigerian singer Tems. Seeing people from dozens of countries and walks of life belting out that song together was a spiritual experience, and Dave was at his best.  

Just because he’s British doesn’t mean Dave can’t rap like crazy, either (21 Savage does it too). He found his first success with personal, lyrical songs like “Screwface Capital” and “Streatham.” Although hits like “Sprinter” aren’t too profound, Dave is still extremely capable of putting his soul into his bars and speaking against injustice.

His willingness to be honest and get political also clearly resonated with the D.C. crowd. After “The Boy Who Played The Harp,” the title track from Dave’s recent album where he reflects on his responsibilities as an artist (“I talk by the money on all my accounts, so why don’t I speak on the West Bank?”), “Free Palestine!” chants rang throughout the venue. In a crowd full of young people and immigrants in the international heart of politics, Dave’s lyrics gave a voice to simmering frustration about the state of politics today. 

Even though I didn’t know the words to all the songs and couldn’t keep up with the soccer knowledge around me, Dave put on an energetic show and I felt immediately welcome. It can’t be denied — those Brits know how to rap. 

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