Birmingham's Leading Musician Dapz On The Map's Debut Album Announces His Arrival

Dapz On The Map takes us on a flight both musically and metaphorically on the Birmingham musician’s debut album ‘Landed’. Even though Dapz’s first official EP lll’s A Crowd dropped in 2013 it still feels like he’s finally landed in terms of getting wide acclaim from the general public.

Know from when grime was at the forefront of everybody’s mind the new album shifts constantly in tone, pitch, genre and mood as Dapz demonstrates his versatility by adjusting his tools to express himself clearly without any meaning getting lost in the translation.

It took three years for the multifaceted project containing 11 tracks to be physically manifested into existence and the TLC is shown.

The first track of the album ‘Kangaroo Bandit’ starts off with a skit, a female flight attendant announcing our upcoming arrival to Birmingham. It feels as if we’re being introduced to Dapz and his world. The beat gives off a sense of foreboding with its grittiness and it’s matched with Dapz’s cool persona as he lets off quick firer one-liners. But most importantly what stands out is his relatability as a person, as injects his details about his daily life, around the talk about the roads and the music.

‘Contingency’ was one of the singles that was released in the run-up to the album. Produced by Swifta Beater who’s a collaborator for the majority of the album, Dapz keeps it real as he demands himself to remain consistence with music despite the noise.

Stylistically the Birmingham artist adopts a more melodic approach on ‘Cruel To Be Kind’ as he calls out the people who didn’t support him during the struggle.

On the project, there’s a collection of smooth R&B and genuine heartfelt songs that show off Dapz’s talent as a singer, as well as his desire to cater to a wider audience. The low frequency ‘Intrigued’ is an ode to Dapz’s love as he sings sweetly about what he finds attractive about her and then transitions to velvet rap.

He also looks closely at the concept of modern dating in this social media-focused world on ‘Explore Page’. Dapz takes on the persona of a Casanova as he actively pursues a girl after first noticing her online. It effortlessly captures the reckless feeling of infatuation with its sweet harmonies and charming tone.

The sampled based ‘Holding It Down’ is a love story dedicated to his girl who’s supported him over the years. The mood is reinforced by the bass and the piano chords. The only feature on the project ‘Beautiful’ features fellow Birmingham artist Pheleba.

Breaking away from that feeling now, the energetic ‘Give Thanks’ signals a return back to cold bars and rapping as he states “stepped into the ring and got married to the game” showing his dedication to his music career.

He doesn’t however shy away from the more personal topics in ‘When’ where he speaks on a time in his career in depth when things weren’t going right and when he fell out of music.

Moving into the end of the project is a return to the melodic ‘Bring It Home’ however it acts as a reminder to Dapz on his responsibility to succeed for his family. The last song on the album ‘Memory Lane’ outlines his journey so far and allows him to unpack everything going back to the very beginning of his career. He mentions meeting Skepta and going on tour with Kano.

Now that Dapz has landed, we can’t wait to see where he takes us next.

Listen to the project here