Rap Music has become the dominant musical genre of the 21st century. It has produced various artists, some good and some not so good over the course of this period. This release by Rapper Dave and guest Central Cee has been drawing attention in recent times, having sold over 100 000 physical copies and having tens of millions of streams for a Rap EP without the first few months of release, apparently breaking records for Rap music that has further propelled both Dave and Central Cee’s careers into the limelight. Therefore, this release deserves attention from a written perspective. Does this sound good? Let’s find out.

Trojan Horse obviously refers to an interesting historical story from thousands of years ago, but more importantly, relates to something that visually is different from intention. It begins with some unusual cut-up string sections in a Classical Music style, followed by hi-hats and Dave rapping nicely here. This is quite good for what it is, and showcases a good Rap tune. Central Cee guests here, and both Rappers rap well here. It has some unusual sounds for Rap music, including a theremin melody in the background and Acid House style textures. This tune has a great deal of lyrical paranoia about it, which isn’t entirely unusual, but is fairly dark. This is okay, it’s not the greatest song ever but is a good start to the EP. This has the usual Rapping about bling and the high life, which is fairly standard stuff and it matches the music well. Nonetheless, a good start, even if this tune isn’t the greatest. It ends with some talk about the negative elements of smoking tobacco, before concluding. It’s okay, but not fantastic.

Sprinter is the key cut here. It begins with some gorgeous acoustic guitar and launches into a beat heavy tune that is fairly socially conscious but sounds really quite good. This is a good tune with drug references and references to fancy cars and chasing a lady of one’s desire, typical Rap stuff. This is good listening without being a great listen. The immaculate production here is matched by street based lyrics. This is okay to hear but sounds like a total sell-out musically and lyrically. In any case, one can welcome this song as a change from time to time but it has some trashy lyrics and reeks of a spirit of money based music. This is just a piece of music that won’t really be remembered in five years time. Good, but not great. Not everything popular out there is great, and not everything that is great is popular. This ends with the backing track playing, before concluding.

Our 25th Birthday begins with some Ed Sheeran styled vocals, with some female vocals backing, before this launches into quite a deep and meaningful tune which is about the fact that Dave and Central Cee are born a day apart. There is something about that, especially if you believe in birthdays and/or astrology. It’s a sad sounding tune that is fairly serious for mainstream Rap music and mentions concepts such as love and going to University to get a degree to impress one’s mother. Nonetheless, this is okay overall but sounds like a sad and depressing tune, to be frank, and it is difficult to enjoy as a result. This isn’t the greatest of the great, it just sounds like a moment in time that won’t last forever, just like 2023. In any case, the music is okay but has too much Rapping about money, relationships and similar things in postmodern life. It’s okay, and has moody piano throughout, but is seriously lacking. The outro has just some depressing instrumentation for a bit, particularly with the piano here. Depressing.

UK Rap is the last track here and begins with some rapid-fire beats and launches into a good listening experience with ghostly sounds present. The rapping begins, and this song launches into more street Rap styled talk. Again, this is not the greatest tune out there. It is another Rap tune about bling and ladies that really isn’t revolutionary here and is about a lady that the guys here know that doesn’t listen to UK Rap. It’s dumbed down and unintelligent music for the 21st century that will unlikely last for very long. Repetitive and mind-numbingly dull, this is not that good. Boasting about one’s wealth and such doesn’t make one a great musician. It ends with the looped instrumentation playing on. Very dull.

This isn’t the greatest release of 2023. Other musicians and artists, including Rappers, have done much better than this release here to establish a musical point. Dave and Central Cee do well here, but not consistently enough or musically inspiring to make a long term statement. Still, one can’t accept that they are trying, it is just that this music is very mediocre. Not impressive, and only worth hearing if you really need some dumbed down Rap music.

Ordinary.

6/10