The album begins with a song called Psycho, setting the personal and troubled tone of the album. It gives a perspective from a somewhat damaged soul, who is sceptical of therapy. As someone who is so used to being hurt, he has previously found it difficult to share his emotions (which is signified through the metaphorical use of scars), as shown through the line;

“I don’t want them to heal.”  - Dave

Dave knows that his life experiences have made him who he is and so at the beginning of the album, he seems to reject therapy whilst in a therapy session, a conflicting theme, which improves as the album continues. In the first song, there are two beat switch-ups which are in short succession and to the listener, it seems to be a signal of what Dave feels is his ‘manic depression’ (something he states towards the end of this song), the mood changes rapidly with the beat representing his temporary happiness achieved through materialistic things such as partying or women. In addition, this is a character break for Dave, throughout the song he attempts to challenge the therapist, but by the end he drops the facade and his true feelings finally come through. 

A Pierced Perception of The Public

The 8th song on the album ‘Environment’ shows the development from the first song, he has developed from his inability to match his feelings to his actions in Psycho, as he now has the confidence to say that showing off materials shows ‘a lack of self-worth’. 

 "You see it as gangster, I see it as (an) insecurity." - Dave

Not only is he able to individualise, he also has a desire to break this false image that is often presented in rap. Throughout this album, Dave uses layers of double entendres, metaphors, and similes to paint a picture of his life. A notable example of this in this album is the lyric;

‘There’s no class forget truancy.’ - Dave

Dave is saying that people that he has grown up with and seen don’t have class/respect for each other let alone ‘truancy’. He suggests that he has grown up in a completely uncaring environment. However, evidently by his continued success, this never stopped Dave, he also suggests this in other lyrics such as;

‘Where most would see a problem, I’m seeing an opportunity’. - Dave

Finally, his therapist picks up on his improving mental condition which he comments on in the closing lines of the song,

“So looking at it from another perspective, playing devil's advocate

Considering you know you're obviously becoming famous, so to speak

But you still deal with a lot of issues on a human level

Do you ever just sit and wonder about the stories behind the people you meet day by day?

Does it make you feel grateful, in a weird way, for your life and problems?”

This idea expressed seems to be one that Dave resonates with and seemed to enlighten him as an individual.

Learning To Deal With Life’s Dramas

‘Where most would see a problem, I'm seeing an opportunity" - Dave

A change can be marked in Dave’s perspective, and this can be seen from how he thinks in the final song of the album ‘Drama’. Dave uses a cyclical structure in his album by using a different perspective of pain to the beginning of the album. His mindset changes from;

‘How do you stop all the pain’ to...

“I thank God for the pain because it made me this.” - Dave

Dave still sees his struggles through his upbringing as the leading force as to what made him the person he is today, but rather than wallow in the negative life he has lived, he has been healed to see his hard-times as a learning experience. This is a key lesson for all of us! 

In addition, Dave seems to accept responsibility for his life by this point of the album, the first song ends with;

‘I ain’t (am not) psycho but my life is.’

Whilst one of the final lines in the closing song is;

“I tell my circle the future’s ours, we’re shaping it”.

Dave changes from feeling controlled by his life, to feeling in control of his life. His ability to share this information with his ‘circle’ shows his newfound confidence in his life, and a deeper level of maturity. 

The lesson this album teaches is that no matter how bad a situation appears to be, ultimately, it is the perspective of the individual that is capable of changing that situation and Dave’s ability to accept total responsibility of his future, change his perspective, and become independent gives him the true mark of a legend. Here is his performance at the 2020 Brit Awards of his powerful song "Black"