For all the devoted followers of “Dave” and Lil Dicky, the long-awaited moment has arrived: after an eight-year hiatus, the artist will finally grace streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music with his newest music later this year. Dave Burd, widely recognized as the star and executive producer of the hit show “Dave,” as well as his rapper persona Lil Dicky, is diligently curating tracks and expanding on other musical elements from the show’s first three seasons, all of which he plans to release in the near future.
Fans have been clamouring for official releases of he many tracks featured in the three seasons. Being a rapper both in the show and in reality, the songs are actually high quality, understandably leading many to want to listen to them properly.
Not only will the project serve as a captivating soundtrack for Dave, but it will also mark Lil Dicky’s first album since 2015’s Professional Rapper. This earlier album achieved platinum certification and soared to the coveted No. 1 position on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart, cementing Lil Dicky’s prominence in the industry.
Talking to Variety on the annoucement, Burd said: “I’ve been making music ever since then, I realized this year, as I took a step back and looked at all the different music that’s made it into the first three seasons of the show, there’s enough here, a great body of work and a project that I can put out as a soundtrack. I think this is such a better representation of Lil Dicky the musical artist than, honestly, my first album even was. People are always like, ‘when can I get that song?’ I think this will be a cool thing for fans who have watched the show. And for people who have never even seen the show, I think they’ll enjoy listening to this as like a body of music.”
Burd is currently working with producer Benny Blanco (who’s also a frequent “Dave” guest star) to finish some of the songs, as well as get them ready for mixing and mastering. Burd said he’s looking at including between 15 and 20 tracks on the album.
Lil Dicky has released music from the show before. ‘We Good’ was a collaboration between himself and co-star GaTa, which was the closing song on season 2. It’s likely to be including in the soundtrack.
“There are bits and pieces of songs you’ve been hearing for three seasons of Lil Dicky, the musical artist,” he told Variety. “Sometimes you’ll hear 20 seconds of it, but I might have a full three minute version of that song that’s unreleased. I want to get that out to the world. It’s a really strong body of work that I’m super proud of. I was surprised when I took a step back and looked at the inventory of stuff that have made it into the show — ‘Oh, my God, there’s like a great album here of work that can live on its own.’ So that’s what I’m working on now.”
Burd said he hopes to release the Dave soundtrack by the end of this summer. “The sooner the better,” he said. “It’s just some of these things you’ve seen in the show are 30 seconds. That’s a little too short. It’s not as simple as, ‘they all exist and I can just put them on a thing and boom, I can come out tomorrow.’ I want to do it the right way. And again, none of these songs were even mixed or mastered. But I’ll be working on it as fast as I can. These things do take some time. I’m not going to just throw some sloppy version of it out. But let’s get all our ducks in a row, get all the files to Benny, get all the structurally things correct.”
Burd admitted that the all-consuming job of starring in and writing Dave has limited the time he has to put out an album. “When I’m making the show, it takes every ounce of my energy,” he said. “The lifecycle of a season is a year, and it’s like 15 hour days, seven days a week for a year straight. It’s impossible for me to come home and then work more on music. So I’m working on all this music before I start the show, in between. It’s not for lack of effort that I haven’t been able to put music out. You only have so much time and then then you got to make the show. And so I’m happy that I finally accumulated enough great material that I’m proud of that I can put something out and people can listen to it… I’ve changed, the music changed, my ability as a rapper has changed. I would hope fans don’t think that I’m not making music.”
Concluding on May 31, the third season of Dave left viewers astounded with a surprise appearance by none other than Brad Pitt. Throughout this year, the show has captivated audiences with an array of star-studded cameos, including Drake, Demi Lovato, Don Cheadle, Killer Mike, Machine Gun Kelly, Megan Fox, Rick Ross, Travis Barker, Usher, Jack Harlow, and Rachel McAdams. The FX series, highly acclaimed by critics, has received praise for its exceptional storytelling, especially in this season where Dave embarked on a nationwide tour while simultaneously navigating the complexities of finding love. The talented ensemble cast, consisting of GaTa, Andrew Santino, Christine Ko, Taylor Misiak, and Travis Bennet, has contributed significantly to the series’ success. GaTa, in particular, has garnered acclaim for his poignant portrayal of mental health struggles.
