Dave

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.

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.

The song has since been ranked number 10 on Complex magazine's list of "Grime's Most Impactful Songs of the 2010s".

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.

Dave is also an avid supporter of Manchester United F.C.

In May 2015, Dave's career began when he appeared on BL@CKBOX, a YouTube channel that promotes upcoming artists, with a freestyle.

Later in July, he dropped a single with just audio on Mixtape Madness called "Mid Summer Night".

He then progressed, releasing a freestyle entitled ‘Karma’ on the channel PacmanTV in August and a freestyle on Street Starz TV, a YouTube channel for freestyle, in September.

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.

In the same year, Canadian rapper Drake premiered a remix single of Dave's song "Wanna Know" featuring himself on OVO Sound Radio.

Dave performed his first SB.TV Warm Up Session in November and then he released his first track "JKYL+HYD" on the platform in January 2016.

In March he made his debut performance on Charlie Sloth's "Fire in the Booth", a freestyle segment on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Later that month, Dave performed his first live show with a support slot for Kano at London's Troxy.

Dave featured on the remix of fellow British rapper AJ Tracey's track "Spirit Bomb" in February 2016.

Following this, the pair released the track "Thiago Silva" on 13 May 2016.

The song showcased Dave's versatility by showing Dave's ability on a grime track.

Dave's festival debut was at Bestival in August 2016, performing the track alongside AJ Tracey on the Eskimo Dance stage.

He performed as part of the Red Bull Music Academy UK tour in October 2016.

After releasing a range of non-album singles through 2016, Dave released his debut EP, Six Paths, on 30 September 2016, which included the tracks "Picture Me", "Panic Attack", and "Wanna Know".

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.

In the same year, he released "Funky Friday", featuring Fredo, which became his first number-one song on the UK Singles Chart and his first platinum certified release.

Dave's debut album Psychodrama (2019) was met with widespread critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, having the biggest first-week streams for a UK rap album.

He made his acting debut in the third season of the Netflix series Top Boy, which was released in September 2019.

In July 2021, Dave released his second album We're All Alone in This Together which was a critical success and his second UK number-one album.

He released the single "Starlight" on 3 March 2022, which became his first solo UK number-one single.

In June 2023, Dave achieved his third and his longest-running number-one single in "Sprinter" with Central Cee, which was the lead single to their collaborative EP Split Decision.

in January 2024 he was nominated at the 55th NAACP Nominations for Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act category

It went on to win the Mercury Prize, and Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards.