
Mercury Prize has revealed this year's 12 shortlisted albums
Twelve albums are in the running, with the ceremony heading to Newcastle in October.
Cruz Beckham
About This Track
Dave constructs a sharp critique of perception and performance across 'Environment'. The track cuts between what observers see in rap's surface, chains, cars, groupies, club scenes, and what he identifies beneath: insecurity, exploitation, depression, and the machinery of an industry built on false intimacy. He moves from the personal ("where I'm from, everybody wants to make it out / but nobody wants to see somebody make it out") to the systemic, naming fake handshakes, manufactured love, and the peculiar burden of success that turns you into a target. The song's power lies in its refusal of easy celebration. Dave doesn't glamorise the trappings he describes; he anatomises them. A Cuban chain becomes a house deposit deferred; studio labour vanishes behind the spectacle of packed venues; depression arrives precisely when you've "made it". He positions himself as someone who learned to read the code differently, turning keys into music rather than trouble, but the track's final movement, on pressure, hatred, and the silence that follows when you're no longer useful, suggests that clarity offers no escape from the weight itself.
"Environment" is a track by Dave, from the album PSYCHODRAMA, released 8th March 2019. The track is 3:23 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 16 articles about Dave.
About the Artist
Lyrics
Lyrics provided by LRCLIB
View full lyrics page →Track details
More from Dave
Explore
Showing 10 of 20
Credits

Twelve albums are in the running, with the ceremony heading to Newcastle in October.

The main stage becomes The Grid as the festival introduces custom-built dance space The Warehouse.

Dylan John Thomas and Fiona-Lee are also among the latest additions.

New single 'Back Together' arrives with a black-and-white video featuring the rapper's mum.

The Harlesden artist is also putting out 'suffer'.

The 2026 shortlist announcement and awards show dates have been confirmed.