“In The Fire” is the fourth cut from Dave’s sophomore album We’re All Alone In This Together and watches him recruit four unlisted surprise features including close collaborator Fredo, UK Rap legends Giggs and Ghetts and up-and-coming Manchester rapper Meekz.
The five go uninterrupted as they bounc...
[Intro: Milton Biggham of The Florida Mass Choir]
I know I got religion
I belong to the noisy crew (Heh, heh)
You see, we shout when we get happy
That's the way we Christian do
Oh, have you been tried?
[Verse 1: Fredo]
Have you been tried in that fire?
I heard bullets sing higher than Mariah in choir
Spent a lot of time trappin', now I'm tryna retire
But the shit runs in my blood and I'm the guy they require
Yeah, these guns don't bring nothin' but prison and death, still
All my niggas just admire the fire
Bro squeeze and he miss, but we admire a trier
Finessе kid, you can never lie to a liar
But Frеd got the fire, I fire for days
I gotta write them in my notes, they'll be ignitin' the page
Grindin' on cold nights, puttin' light to the flame
Now there's no flame that can melt the ice in my chain, yeah
I really put the ice in rice for the 'caine
Me and Santan, you won't see nothin' like this again
That's my young boys again, on the glide with the flame
I just really hope your block came with fire escapes
[Verse 2: Meekz]
Before my entrance, I took the fire exit
Tried and tested, about twenty times arrested
Two times guilty, no comment, I guess they guessed it
Couple times bail, no forensics, this a Deezy pendant
I don't need a necklace, we stay protected
And connected, it's the energies I'm blessed with
And now they watchin' like Netflix, had me doin' next shit
Tryna get rich, but what's rich? Took more losses than Boris
I sold more boxes than the post-office
Twenty-one in jail, it turned me so solid
Why you think my vision sick, I changed the game in my brain
And sold robotics, if you fell in my fire, you probably roast on it
Heat up the stove and put hope on it
Cah they don't care 'bout our lives, I put my soul on it
I'm done tryna be somebody to some nobodies
I'm bein' so honest, and they don't know porridge
[Verse 3: Ghetts, Giggs]
Fire burnin' while I'm watchin', higher learnin'
Guns bustin', tyres turnin', that's a Russian and a German (Yes)
That's your phone ringin', you can hear the beep
You won't be saved by the bell when you hear the screech
In it so deep, open, ocean
There's man escapin' some shells they can barely see
Me and bro raisin' hell, we gon' share the heat
Then put us in the same cell, we gon' share the sleep
Am I my brother's keeper? (It's deeper)
I'm my brother's leader (Speaker), I'm the eldest
The one who had to make a name so the bells ring
So nobody would trouble my siblings in this whirlwind
My older cousin wasn't known for nothin'
Never had no one I could call, but I was holdin' somethin'
I'm diggin' deep with this tool like I'm known for plumbin'
Somethin' in your chest like it's Robitussin
Word to arsonist, I burn all this
I stood in front of all three dragons and heard "Dracarys"
And now we're jumpin' out G-Wagons and murkin' parties
Man are comin' out with these bangers and dirty dancin'
Nobody puts baby in a corner
I uplift my girl like I'm Swayze in the water
And if it's already written, maybe I'm the author, so accustomed
To the fire, I get shivers when I'm naked in the sauna, how
Many times have they mistaken me for Scorcher?
I'm lookin' in the mirror, sayin' "Justin, just cool, nuh"
Send Ghetto downstairs and tell them "Just bring me water"
And tell Ghetts I put somethin' in the formula
I'm focused, I don't need to burn the kush
This is Moses speakin' to the burnin' bush (Yeah)
I stood in front of the fire and learned to cook
Finished my verse and never heard a hook
[Verse 4: Giggs, Dave]
Riskiest numbers
This jungle stick through your youngers (Uh)
He's hungry, picked off the fungus
Kept humble, slipped him a hundred
Yeah, lived in a dungeon
Those AirMax, which nigga stung them? (Which?)
Can't walk in my shoes (Yeah)
You could be riskin' a bunion
(Hahaha) The government's twisted
I cover this shift to cover this Christmas
Forget them old friends, I'm done with those bitches
They colour-coded my brothers and sisters
Run the rhythm, you're a brother but you're running with them
Try accusin' me of colourism (Yeah)
Blinded 'cause you look at me with tunnel vision
I was fallin', but I've gone and risen
Is this nigga trusty
Or Sideshow Bob when he's creepin' on Krusty?
Streets keep me tusslin', people discuss me
Racist disease, that shit that disgust me (Disgust me)
Don't touch me
On the streets with the sweeper 'cause the streets pretty dusty (Dusty)
And I've always got love for
Genuine, people that buss me (Haha)
Santan, and the gang advisor
I'ma check him out, I'm a analyser
She was callin' me an antagoniser
Let me sanitise, where's the sanitiser? (Jheeze)
Just flutter by, he said "Giggs can you handle this?"
He said "Float like a butterfly" (Like a butterfly)
I bring truth but they love a lie
Plans, I'm the man you should run 'em by (Yeah)
[Verse 5: Dave]
In the fire, been tried
Affected the way I been wired inside
You can hide or glide, I could've been deported
That's the definition of a "Fight-or-flight"
You can type all you like, I know about homeless
Immigration, they took me from my mum's arms
Fuck a gun charge, two swords, I'm a Ronin
Błaszczykowski, I'm tryna score with the Polish
Pain in my eyes, plans of me stainin' a guy
With a vision of this changin' my life
Crime's on the rise, hate's on the rise
Feel like everythin' but my mum's pay's on the rise
"Did you come through?" That's the question
Affordin' a burner was never man's problem
Adoption, we couldn't find homes for the weapons
By the station, we got poles, no election
In the fire, been tested, before I had money
It was time I invested, nothin' changed
Still time I invest in, watch-game delicate
Tutankhamun, there's money in skeletons
All I gotta do is point, they're gonna sever his head
And tell ***** that we're better as friends
Nights that I can't remember with some people I could never forget
Casa Cruz, you could bet a Nusr-et
Don't make me call a young gunner on the back of a 'ped
Slappin' a lead, civilians grabbin' your friends
There's chaos on the main road, they called choppers and tents
All because of some shit that you said, I got killers with me
(Killers with me) And they love me, they make a man's heart stop
The shit you find horrifyin' gets laughed off
I'm like Meekz, bro, I won't stop, can't stop
Yeah, it's kinda different when the fire's what you start from
[Bridge: The Florida Mass Choir]
Have you been tried
In the fire? (Hot!)
Have you been tried
In the fire?
(Yes)
Have you been tried
In the fire? Oh
(Yes)
Tell me
(Did you come through?)
Did you come through?
Have you been—
[Interlude: Nathan James Tettey]
Do your research
To travel, go and see the
Go really see the corners of the world that
Are alien to you, really do interest you
And you know, 'cause in due process, then you'll meet
New people and then
Those people will tell you new stories then you become
A voice for the voiceless, I mean
You should ask Daniel, really and truly, where he goes to find himself
'Cause I don't know anything, I'm just speculatin'
Um
More importantly for you and your family
You then get to ask the questions and answer the questions
About where you were made
Like where you come from, where you're going
London, Lagos, L.A.
The journey is the film
In The Fire was written by Milton Biggham & Dom Maker & Kyle Evans & James Blake & Fredo & Ghetts & Giggs & Meekz & Dave.
In The Fire was produced by Dom Maker & James Blake & Dave & Kyle Evans.
Dave released In The Fire on Fri Jul 23 2021.
Yes, all but one!
Dave & Fredo:
• Dave – “Funky Friday” (feat. Fredo) – Oct 2018
• Fredo – “All I Ever Wanted” (feat. Dave) – Jan 2019
• Fredo – “Money Talks” (feat. Dave) – Jan 2021
Dave also executively produced Fredo’s sophomore album Money Can’t Buy Happiness, released in January 2021.
Da...