Praised for his lyricism and raw storytelling, and blessed with a loyal New York following, Dave East is one of the most promising rappers on the scene today. Born and raised in Harlem, he was inspired by older generation East Coast rappers ranging from Notorious B.I.G. to Styles P, Jadakiss, Cam’ron, and Big Pun. After a college basketball stint, Dave’s attention gravitated full time to music. Starting in 2010, an array of highly praised mixtapes earned him widespread recognition in the hip-hop community. His seventh mixtape, 2014’s Black Rose caught Nas by surprise, resulting in Dave’s signing to Nas’ Mass Appeal imprint.  Subsequent mixtapes Hate Me Now (2015) and Kairi Chanel (2016, named for Dave’s daughter), boasted a collective guest list topped by Nas, Styles P, Pusha T, Jadakiss, 2 Chainz, Fabolous, Cam’ron, Beanie Sigel, Rico Love, and The Game, to name a few.  Kairi Chanel led off with the storytelling visual for “Keisha” followed by “Type Of Time”, with over 12 million combined YouTube views to date. After nabbing a spot in the notorious XXL Freshman Class of 2016, Dave arrived on the Def Jam roster late that year.  He finished out 2016 by joining Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nas, and Aloe Blacc for “Wrote My Way Out” on the critically acclaimed The Hamilton Mixtape.  Dave was next heard on “Gold Digger” featuring A-Boogie, from Def Jam’s Direct Deposit Vol. 2 comp­ilation (February 2017).

Dave’s 13-track Def Jam debut mixtape EP Paranoia: A True Story (August 2017) took off with the single “Perfect” featuring Chris Brown, whose video boasts over 40 million combined YouTube views to date.  The Paranoia 2 mixtape followed in January 2018.  It was supported by a 10-minute short film, “The Hated,” a gritty drama centering on two childhood friends who get caught up in the street hustle that eventually lands one of them in the Rikers Island lockup.  Dave’s profile was amped considerably on his 23-city cross-country “Paranoia 2 Tour” of the U.S. in January-February 2018.  He then jumped into the ring for Beloved (October 2018), a mixtape collabo with invincible Yonkers MC Styles P.  The project spun off a single, “We Got Everything,” whose video starred both MCs.  Dave segued into headlining his 23-city “Get It How I Live Tour” of the U.S. in November-December 2018.  In addition to The Hamilton Mixtape, Dave is featured on over 20 tracks with A-listers 2 Chainz, Fabolous, Trey Songz, Styles P, Meek Mill, fellow Harlem mc Smoke DZA, and Pvrx, to name a few. 

2019 was a landmark breakthrough year for Dave East, with the November release of his first full-length album, Survival (including “Alone” featuring Jacquees; and “Godfather 4” featuring Nas); his starring dramatic portrayal of Method Man in the 10 episode fic­tion­alized HULU mini-series Wu-Tang: An American Saga; the launch of his  D2C Store at https://shop.daveeastmusic.com; and the Survival Tour Part 1 in November-December, with sold-out dates in the U.S., UK and Europe.  August 2020 brought the Karma 3 mixtape, sequel to Karma (2017) and Karma 2 (2018).  The 15-track Karma 3 and its successor, the 23-track Karma 3 Deluxe marked the tenth anniversary of Change Of Plans (2010), the mixtape that started it all for Dave East.