19-year-old i-D coverstar Dave has achieved a lot of greatness in his fledgling career: two critically-acclaimed EPs (Six Paths in 2016 and Game Over in 2017), a MOBO award, a BRIT nomination and a collaboration with Drake. Today, the Streatham rapper got one step closer to another trophy for his mum’s shelf, with a Best Contemporary Song nomination for Question Time at the 2018 Ivor Novello Awards.
The Ivor Novello Awards, for those who aren’t songwriters or musos, are a big deal in the UK music industry. The awards celebrate songwriters and composers, and are presented annually in London (and have been for 63 years) by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, sponsored by PRS. Previous winners in Dave’s Best Contemporary Song category include Amy Winehouse’s Rehab, James Blake’s Retrograde and Lana Del Rey’s Video Games. No pressure, then.
Question Time, from Dave’s Game Over EP, is politically charged to the max and addresses issues including Brexit, the war in Syria, Grenfell Tower and NHS budget cuts. On 31 May at the awards, the single will go up against Stormzy’s Don’t Cry For Me feat. Raleigh Ritchie and a song about a drunk woman who is convinced the coke she just got given has rum in it, called Cola by CamelPhat & Elderbrooks. Good luck, our Dave!