
Mercury Prize has revealed this year's 12 shortlisted albums
Twelve albums are in the running, with the ceremony heading to Newcastle in October.

Yard Act
About This Track
Dave moves through 'Six Paths' with the confidence of someone who has already calculated the cost. The track is built on a catalogue of near-misses and hard choices: the freedom he risked for trainers and chain, the luck that kept him alive when others weren't, the pivot from the street to legitimacy. His delivery is conversational but precise, each bar weighted with specificity rather than bravado. The song circles back repeatedly to the same question: was any of it worth it? He doesn't answer it directly. Instead he catalogs the alternatives he dodged, death, wealth through crime, prison, and settles into a present where he can move without the feds watching his face. There's a sharpness to how he reads the men still performing the old rituals on social media, still talking the talk without having taken the actual risks. 'Six Paths' doesn't celebrate the escape so much as examine it, turning over the weight of the choices that made it possible.
"Six Paths" is a track by Dave, from the album Six Paths - EP, released 29th September 2016. The track is 3:43 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop/Rap. 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.