Murkage Dave is hard to put in one box. One minute he’s making his name DJing in Manchester. The next he’s doing soul on ‘Car Bomb’ but blink twice and he’s making through and through grime tunes with Manga Saint Hilaire. On ‘Keep Up The Bad Work’ he throws us another curve ball.
The song was a gem on his last album ‘Murkage Dave Saved My Life’ and it’s a slow, laidback vibe reminiscing on where Dave has been and where he’s come from. The song has a warm, nostalgic vibe created by the simple but satisfying acoustic guitar loop. At first the song, with Dave’s unexpectedly light vocals, feels like it’s just going to be a run of the mill acoustic guitar indie song. Then the drums kick in giving the song an incredible rhythm and edge, clearly inspired by the old school classic hip-hop song Grindin’ by The Clipse, originally produced by The Neptunes.
The production is simple but inspired, based on these two contrasting sounds that really shouldn’t work, but turn out to complement each other perfectly.
Dave’s lyrics are almost a salute to his former self. He paints a picture of a fun loving, ambitious guy just trying to make it in music. The lyrics are thankful for simpler times and how far they’ve taken him, telling himself to ignore his mistakes and ‘keep up the bad work’.
The video just dropped and fitting with the vibe of the tune, Murkage can be found in a vintage car and singing the song with throwback, VHS shot images cut in. It complements the song which also recently dropped with a remix from New York rap crew World Fair’s own, Lansky Jones, dropping in with a verse giving his own take on the bad work from his youth.
Check out the video below and if you like this song, ‘Murkage Dave Saved My Life’ dropped last October and is available on all streaming sites.
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