The young artist recently released a new R&B album and joins us to break down its meaning, construction and inspirations from his life.
Dave Tsimba is a 24 year old recording artist out of Nashville Tennessee. His catalogue spans genres such as pop, r&b, and rap just to name a few. All of these styles and influences are integrated and masterfully executed to create his unique sound. We had the opportunity to talk with Dave about his recent album “Red Room Vibes”, amongst other things. Even in his condition, Dave doesn’t let the productivity lapse. We conducted this interview while he was in a sling recovering from an arm injury. I guess his Drake influences go deeper than just music.
The following article and quotes have been taken from an interview with Dave. His answers have been edited for brevity.
Interviewer: What is the meaning behind “Red Room”?
Dave Tsimba: “So the Red Room is when I am pissed. Most of the time I’m not really a person that likes to show my feelings outside of music, I love to laugh, but I don’t really show anything else outside of that. When you walk into the red room there is a lot of anger, disappointment, maybe even some slight regret and that’s where you get your life lessons.”
In the time I have known Dave, I have known him to be a neurotic musician. Constantly wrangling with vast ideas in his head and a seemingly endless library of recorded work. His assessment of the color red in this feature does not come as a shock to me.
I: Why is there only one feature?
Dave: “I sent (Loque’) the song and he said ‘I want it’. I (had) already sent the song to two other people but didn’t even really think much about it, I just wanted him to hear the song. And then he said ‘I want it’. I said if you want this you gotta come singing on this.”
Dave had this to say of the featured artist:
You see Loque’s name, you might as well click it.”
I: Did either of the other people put verses on it?
Dave: “It worked out perfectly because before anybody’s answers regardless, (as) soon as he said he wants it I was like ’it’s yours’.”
Red Room Vibes does not suffer from a lack of features. In fact, I would contend that most recording artists are at their best without the assistance from another artist. This question was only asked in an attempt to shed light on the specific decision to add a previously unseen collaborator in place of where vetted collaborators such as Haile and Aye Baeza would normally appear.
Dave also took the time to shout out fellow musician and collaborator, Shemar, whose upcoming album has been highly teased on social media. Tsimba mentioned his anticipation for Shemar’s 4th album and confirmed that he will making an appearance on it.
I: How do you utilize the team that supports Dave Tsimba?
Dave: “Man we probably have the weirdest process. I’ll start of (with) Henry, thats my brother. We always seem to have an understanding. That man is probably the reason why I know how to move when the camera is on me. Travis and Kori, when I don’t have time to post on social media (they) post for me, (and) aside from that they’ve become my family. (Big Matt) has his own brand in “Grind Szn”, if I can rock Grind Szn (in a video) let’s put it in use. (Haile) is making me a better engineer each time he gets on the mic, aside from being my big brother. The brand that is Dave Tsimba is kind of crazy. It’s more than just a singer or rapper; it’s an engineer, he’s a videographer, a photographer, a second shooter most of the time, a model, an actor! Its definitely an exponential growth.”
What many casual listeners don’t see, are the individuals who chose to make someone else’s passion and career a priority. Dave seems to have gathered the holy trinity of marketing behind him in the form of a videographer/editor, social media team, and a graphic designer. This isn’t to mention the collaborations he’s made in music. But to have a team you must feed a team, not only financially but you must also provide them enough stimulating work to satiate their need. Dave seems to understand and apply this concept perfectly. It is easy to understand why there is such a strong and consistent opinion around Dave and his work. Moral of the story for upcoming rappers, singers, and independent entertainers: get a team and keep it.
I: Why merch? Why now?
Dave: “Red room vibes is the perfect project. I’ve been very slow on merch, I should’ve done merch a long time ago realistically speaking. But there (are) some things I’ve also learned; sometimes your not always ready, sometimes you have to go back to zero. Would I have loved my same designs a few years back?”
I: There seemed to be a feeling of finality with this album, I know many of these songs were old, so do you feel like you’ve closed the book on a certain chapter of your life?
Dave: “No, I think I opened one. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. Who knows where that leads to, it might lead us to a drill tape.”
Dave would later mention that the drill tape should be coming out before valentines day and to keep the word “move” in mind for a future release following that.
I: Do you find any happiness in romance?
Dave: “I love hard. I love with every single inch of my body when I do. If a girl wants to know exactly how I’m feeling about her its gong to be right there in that music. When I’m solid I’m solid on my romance but when I’m not…”
I: What environments inspire you?
Dave: “I grab inspiration off of everything, mainly my past lives. In the words of Henry ‘I’m a man of many lives’. It could be the first three seconds of a song and then…off of the 3 seconds I’ll pause the instrumental and then just write a whole entire song and it could fit perfectly with the instrumental that I haven’t even heard the rest of.”
I: Do you always write?
Dave: “Yeah I always write. Well, no I don’t always write. I write most of the time, I don’t always end up sticking with it.”
I:Where did you learn to make it priority to write?
Dave: “I started off in poetry…in middle school and high school.”
I: Your output is insane, is burnout ever anything that’s on your mind?
Dave: “In the most humbling sense I’m not even trying. I could drop another 5 or 6 song EP right now. I wish I could harder on my music right now, because I’ve been working so much at work, so I really haven’t even been able to put the output that I want to. I can’t wait to be full time. If I’m not going to be the best artist I guarantee I’ll be the artist working the hardest.”
On quality vs quantity he had this to say:
D: “Quality and quantity do go hand and hand, you can bring out a lot of quality music but you have to take your time on it.”
Quantity is often a source of contention. Dave would mention in our interview that he used to struggle with the idea of releasing too much in a calendar year. However, experience taught him that holding on to the music will do nothing to benefit your career.
I: What’s recreation for you?
Dave: “I read a lot, I play chess, right now I’m actually creating an NFT. I actually will be dropping a single in two weeks it’s called “Baddies”. If people buy the NFT they can download the song early. If I’m not in a sling (then) I’m practicing my combos, I used to work out a lot, I cook a little bit here and there, I keep up with sports (although) I don’t watch them a lot because I don’t have the time to. Right now I’m reteaching myself physics, I trade a lot, crypto, stocks…I try to nap a lot. I watch a lot of YouTube videos on ‘how-to’.”
Not the list of hobbies you might expect from a 24 year singer. Nevertheless, these are the activities that keep him sharp.
I: You’re one of the most down to earth people I’ve met, how did you get that way?
Dave: “Seeing my parents struggle. I grew up in one of the poorest, hardest neighborhoods in France, all you know is 35 minutes around you.”
Dave is an immigrant of the United States, he had this to say about his life after moving.
D: “We were eating Bojangles each and every day because we couldn’t afford nothing else. Not that I don’t love my neighborhood, not that I don’t love the pain that I’ve been through as well, but there are some moments you don’t need to go back to. I’ve been homeless living in my car when I got kicked out the house, always being on G Money’s couch, coming home at 3am after work at Bar Louie. Those moments where you have nothing really bring you to a point of “damn I can lose it all”. I try not to be complacent because its easy to be complacent when life is good. I try to keep my head down as much as I can because I’m not the best, not yet. I want to be one of the greatest to have ever lived in the world of music.”
These words speak for themself. With a history like the one Dave has lived, it’s no wonder he works as hard as he does.
I: What can we look forward to next?
Dave: “I have to get in contact with Snacks, because he wants to do an interview. I’ll probably be on the Ambition podcast at some point. 2021 I hit pretty hard, I like the way I did hit. 2022, I don’t just mean me I mean the entire team, we are coming different. We are definitely about to shake the world, or in the words of Pop Smoke, ‘Shake the Room’.”
As always, there is still much more to look forward from Dave, both announced and unannounced. His latest project “Red Room Vibes” is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and everywhere else you consume your music. It has received positive critical success. You can find him on social media @DaveTsimba & @DaveTsimba_.
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