It's been a while coming, but the video for the title track of Dave's current album has arrived - and the Edem Wornoo-directed visual has been worth the wait.

The video for The Boy Who Played The Harp had to do justice to the quality of the track - in particular, the words. Warnoo's video does exactly that, honouring the artist and his subject with direct references to his reflections. But also doing so with a very creative approach and a very successful visual device.

The video takes us into different times and places, with Dave as the focus in each scene. These are recreations of the places that Dave mentions in the song: London in the Blitz, Robben Island, the prison of Nelson Mandela in 1960s, the Titanic. Plus modern London, represented by a grafitti-stained tube train, and also a dreamscape - where Dave ponders life next to a giant skull.

Within these scenarios Dave is present, in character, but always the same. Warnoo match cuts between each of these scenes, so whatever the time period, we remain mesmerically fixed on Dave. He becomes like a time-traveller, and also a philosopher. Its very effective in presenting Dave's thoughts and ideas, with visual flair. 

And even by the gifted London rapper's standards, the lyrics of TBWPTH are outstanding: a reflection on the meaning of his life, no less, within the greater scope of history. He asks some serious questions of himself, and us. 

"It’d be an understatement to say that The Boy Who Played The Harp is a powerful song," says Wornoo. "I think Dave put it best when he said that it’s one of the most important tracks he’s ever made and maybe ever will. It’s obviously a huge honour that [he] entrusted me with the task of creating the visuals. It was very important to me that this video’s primary function was to be in service to the song.

"I very quickly settled on a collection of cinematic vignettes that place Dave at the centre of pivotal moments in human history as he questions what he might’ve done if he was actually there. It was also important to me that we captured the majority of this video in-camera."

And the video is the result of some oldschool film production craft, with fantastic production design by David Hamilton - and complicated motion control set-ups. 

"David Hamilton and his team absolutely smashed it out of the park with a collection of beautifully intricate set builds that made me feel like I was hurtling through time and space as I walked across the studio each day. We built upon these sets with a few moments of considered CGI the majority of which were crafted by our Lead VFX Artist Harry Davidson.

"We transported Dave from scene to scene using match cuts. These were made possible through one very long, very complicated motion control move that allowed us to replicate the exact same movement across multiple sets. Other than the fact that match cuts are super satisfying to see (but definitely not satisfying to shoot lol), they also help with getting the idea across that we could just as easily have been dealt a different hand in life if we were born in another generation. At the snap of a finger, we could find ourselves on the sinking Titanic or as a prisoner of war.

"Our editor Amy Dang was on set with us, piecing each scene together as we went. She was absolutely the woman for the job given how patient and tech savvy she is. She created all of these wonderful grids that helped align all of our shots, and, when a transition worked in the edit, it was the most joyous feeling ever. We’d be shooting things and honestly just crossing our fingers and toes in the hopes that they’d slot together and thankfully they absolutely did with the help of a little movie magic here and there.

"This was the first time that I was able to work with Jaime Ackroyd whose phenomenal portfolio speaks for itself. We’d been trying to connect on a few projects but this is the first time that the stars aligned and I was probably most surprised with how nice of a guy he was. With a body of work as brilliant as his, he’d be excused if he was a little bit of a dick but he wasn’t dickish at all, he was actually a very chill breh. Anyway, I digress… The way in which he chose to light the video helped us establish a painterly quality to each scene that really helped in making the entire film feel timeless despite what time period we were depicting.

Shout outs to our colourist Tim Smith for accentuating these lighting choices and also introducing some gritty texture to the video that helped in tying everything together. This is definitely turning into a bit of an extended credit reel but who cares, it takes a village as they say!

The cherry on top of all the bells and whistles were our hair, make up and costumes that our Costume Designer Cara Hayward and Make Up Designer Ayopo Abiri pulled together. From beaten down uniforms to bruised and bloodied prosthetics, these little details go a long way towards making the video feel authentic, alive and engaging.

"In that vein, I also want to say a huge thank you to every single cast and crew member that I haven’t yet mentioned. What you all brought to this video, big or small, is invaluable and I’m forever grateful to you for it. My final thanks would be to Friend London and my production team Andre Wooz, Liz Adeleye and Scarlet Green as well as my execs Mel Giles, Luke Jacobs and Saam Farahmand all of whom poured into this project in so many different ways.

"I am more proud of this project than I could ever put into words. Given the state of the world right now, this is more than just entertainment, it’s a call to action. I would hope that everyone who has the chance to watch this can take a moment to look themselves in the mirror and ask what they’re doing about the situations in front of them. The answer to that question is what will define our legacy on this planet."