REVIEW: David Dallas - The Rose Tint

David Dallas
The Rose Tint
(out of 5)

There has long been a saying that “the best things in life are free”. Then along came the internet and all of a sudden everything was free. We all know the sad tale of p2p pioneers Napster, and the subsequent punitive response from the major labels (which actually stunted the growth of the music industry instead of saving it). Post-‘this’, the world has never – and will never – be the same, for any form of media.

Fortunately some of the more savvy artists out there have actually used this ‘new’ concept to their advantage. Over the past few months Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and our own Avalanche City have gone from unheard of a year ago, to the point of soon-to-be-ubiquitous. Why? – They gave the world their gift.

David Dallas’ The Rose Tint follows this maybe-idealistic train of marketing, releasing what is probably the coolest thing to come out of New Zealand for quite some time. The production is tight, the beats are well written, and this kid can spit rhymes as good as anyone – probably even better, in his own words “people asking ‘what’s good?’/I’m in that minority” (‘Life is...’). There is a feeling that the mixtape’s samples have been selected with a great deal of care. From instrumentalist-producers Ratatat to The Office’s Ricky Gervais, the cuts will appeal to ‘the mainstream’ as well as music elitists. Everybody is welcome here it seems.

Or maybe not, opener ‘Start Lookin Round’ pours scorn on the girl who took everything from him. “All (his) cash is gone/and her hands are on another pair of...shoes”, the humour barely hiding the vindictive nature of the track. If you’re a boy, you know how he feels. Bad girls aside, he saves some of his sharpest lines for his critics – “they be on the internet/having little word wars/typing in their two cents/acting like its worth more” (‘Til Tomorrow’) – Dear Lord, that might be me. The labels get blasted too, “pushing trash indie bands” – of which there are far too many – whilst ignoring D.Dot’s true talent.

In fact, much of the content of The Rose Tint pertains to his self-fashioned DIY adventure toward New York and fame-and-notoriety. The Chemical Brother’s-sampling ‘Take A Picture’ asks you to “take a flick/before the world’s all up on this shit” and ‘Life is...’ is three minutes of gloriously pure self-promotion. Mind you, he’s already had a helping hand with the Special Problems-directed video ‘Big Time’ (2009) ending up on pop-culture-conveyer-belt Kanye West’s blog a while ago. But whatever, the sky’s the limit – and that’s where David Dallas is heading.

David Dallas - Life Is...

This mixtape isn’t all ego mind you, ‘Postcard’ is a sweet letter to a dear someone who appears to be very far away, and ‘Make Up’ confesses intimate testimony in the sound booth with a little help from PNC. The Rose Tint, however, leaves the best till last. ‘Aint Coming Down’ is the utter highlight of the mixtape, with its take-no-prisoners approach to production incorporating militant beats, hand percussion and striking strings and brass samples. Dallas doesn’t mince his rhymes either – “if your girl playing up/fuck that bitch” and “co-signs don’t mean shit when it’s show time” to share only two. The blistering verse toward the end of the track from Buckshot will floor you.

David Dallas - Caught In A Daze (ft. Freddie Gibbs)

I remember giving D.Dot’s debut record Something Awesome to my brother a few summers ago and thinking “this guy’s got it; let’s see what happens”. In the words of collaborator Che Fu in ‘Sideline’, Dallas seems to have been “sitting on the sideline/just biding (his) time”. Well it has been worth the wait; The Rose Tint is a definitive statement to the world about the state of Kiwi rap, sampling the world’s popular culture whilst retaining very Kiwi roots. I’m genuinely excited about whatever happens from here.

Download The Rose Tint for free here.

Written by Theo Sangster.