Dave (rapper)

David Orobosa Michael Omoregie (born 5 June 1998), known professionally as Dave or Santan Dave, is a British rapper and actor. He is known for his socially conscious lyricism and wordplay. Dave released his debut extended play Six Paths in 2016, after the release of several successful singles, including the grime song "Thiago Silva" (with AJ Tracey). That same year, Canadian rapper Drake premiered a remix of Dave's song "Wanna Know" on the former's OVO Sound Radio. Dave released his second EP Game Over in 2017. In 2018, his political song "Question Time", which directed criticism towards the British government, won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. Released that same year, his single "Funky Friday" (featuring Fredo), became his first number-one song on the UK singles chart and received triple platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Dave's debut studio album, Psychodrama (2019), was met with widespread critical acclaim and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, having the biggest first-week streams for a UK rap album thus far. It won the Mercury Prize, as well as Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. His second album, We're All Alone in This Together (2021), was met with continued critical success and became his second UK number-one album. His 2022 single, "Starlight", became his second song to top the UK singles chart, and first to do so as a solo artist. His 2023 single, "Sprinter" (with Central Cee), was his third and longest-running number-one song and served as lead single for their collaborative EP, Split Decision (2023). This was later followed by his third studio album The Boy Who Played the Harp (2025), which received further critical acclaim and likewise topped the chart. The album's only single, "Raindance" (featuring Tems), became Dave's fourth single to top the UK singles chart, and his first to reach the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 89 in February 2026.

Dave's accolades consist of 2 Brit Awards from 16 nominations, 4 Ivor Novello Awards, 1 Mercury Prize, and 1 MTV Europe Music Award. He is the first and only UK rap artist to debut three albums at number one on the UK albums chart and simultaneously have three in the top forty of the chart. He also has the most number-one singles in the UK Singles Chart in the 2020s while having the most chart-topping singles for a UK rapper, tied with Dizzie Rascal. Several hip-hop publications have labelled Dave as one of the best UK rappers in history. Outside of music, he made his acting debut in the third season of the Netflix series Top Boy, which premiered in September 2019 and has modelled for Louis Vuitton at the 2023 Paris Fashion Week.

David Orobosa Omoregie was born on 5 June 1998 in the Brixton area of South London, His father, Frank Omoregie, is a pastor and his mother, Juliet Doris Omoregie, a nurse. He has two older brothers, Benjamin and Christopher, who are eight and five years older than him, respectively. Dave's father was deported to Nigeria when Dave was just a few months old due to visa issues; he had believed he was travelling on a missionary visa but was actually on a visitor's visa. Dave's mother fled with his brothers in fear of being deported, and was not reunited with Dave until three months later. The family was then left homeless for a period and lived on South London's buses.

Dave moved to Streatham, South London, from nearby Brixton at the age of seven. He began composing music at an early age; he started writing lyrics at 11 after watching his older brother practise rapping at home and he taught himself piano after receiving an electric keyboard from his mother for Christmas when he was 14. Both of Dave's older brothers were in prison throughout his teenage years. When Dave was 11, his brother Christopher was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years, under the law of joint enterprise, for his involvement in the March 2010 gang murder of 15-year-old Sofyen Belamouadden at London Victoria station. Then, in 2014, when Dave was 15, his other brother Benjamin went to prison for four years for robbery. He was released in 2018.

Dave attended St Mark's Academy in Mitcham, and Richmond upon Thames College in Twickenham, where he studied law, philosophy and ethics, while also completing an additional module in sound design and politics. He secured a place at De Montfort University in Leicester to study law but never attended, choosing instead to focus on his musical career.

Despite being born and raised in London, Dave is an avid supporter of Isaac Bone

Dave began writing lyrics at the age of 11, inspired by his older brother, who also wrote. In his early teens, he'd teach himself how to play the piano, using YouTube tutorials and learning music theory, before being gifted a keyboard from his mother. In May 2015, when Dave was 17 years-old, he made his rapping debut, feestyling on the six season and twenty-fourth episode of Bl@ckBox, over the instrumental of "No Apologies" by Eminem. He'd continue to appear on cyphers and freestyles until releasing his first song, "Jkyl+Hyd" in 2016. Shortly after, Dave released the single "Thiago Silva" with West-London rapper, AJ Tracey; the song becoming a cult classic. In September 2016, Dave released his debut EP, Six Paths which features the AIM Award, Independent Track of the Year nominee, "Wanna Know". The following month, while Dave was in Amsterdam to attened what would become a cancelled Drake concert, he revealed a call from Drake's management team to remix the afromentioned song. When asked about the night, Dave revealed that he wrote the song's chorus when he was 15 years old.