When I first heard Fillmore bred emcee DaVinci last year and his debut album The Day The Turf Stood Still, I instantly became a fan of his music for a few reasons– the two biggest reasons circulating in my nogin were he’s dope, and from the Bay Area as myself is. With that being said, here is one of the first leaks from DaVinci’s upcoming project Feast or Famine, which will be dropping August 24th via SWTBRDS.  This track is an acronym that plays off Wu-Tang’s classic “C.R.E.A.M” meaning “Dope Rules Everything Around Me.” Download here.

“I wanted to bring people into the mind of a young man whose entire world – his friends, family, school, community – is flooded with drug abuse and dope distribution,” explains DaVinci. “The song isn’t a celebration; I wanted to give people a clear visual of the events that lead up to making a ‘hustle or die’ decision,” and DaVinci provides a clear visual, indeed, with lines like, “Dream first ask questions last/ Trying to do my best to stay awake in class/ Teacher can’t show me how to make no cash/ But my ni**as on the block sure make it fast. To accompany the single, and help break down what Feast Or Famine is all about, DaVinci is also releasing the “Feast Or Famine” video. A collaboration between Chasen Paper and Johan Thomas, the video offers a chilling, black-and-white visual that plays out like a mini-documentary as DaVinci narrates many of the same dichotomies detailed in “D.R.E.A.M.,” and throughout Feast Or Famine: “A single right or wrong decision can be the difference between eating and starving.”

Check the visuals here.