Davis, aka Davis the Dorchester Bully Credit: John Alcantara.
I’ve known Chicago rapper Davis for a few years. I first encountered him as part of local underground hip-hop collective Why Footclan, which also runs a label for its small but mighty collection of MCs. Davis, aka Davis the Dorchester Bully (among other pseudonyms), collaborates with fellow Why? rapper Joshua Virtue in the duo Udababy, but he also makes solo material. Last year Davis put out two mixtapes: December’s Plum Whisky, a full-length collaboration with Detroit producer Foule Monk, and May’s Portrait, a vigorous sprint of an EP whose four songs arrive as a single, unbroken track that’s just nine minutes and 12 seconds long. I’m predisposed to dig Davis’s style of hip-hop: He’s a sharp-witted MC who likes cluttered, toothy instrumentals but doesn’t feel the need to compete with their bluster by raising his voice. He slides through the thickest, noisiest beats with relaxed confidence, and he shifts his cadence only when he needs to speed through his most verbose verses. Long before he dropped Portrait, Davis knew the power of concision, and he uses every second of the EP to sharpen its edges. He grew up in Calumet Heights, but reading that isn’t the same as hearing him rap about eating a pizza puff from Pee Wee’s on 87th on the dazzling, soulful “52nd & State.” He’s not only a great rapper but also consistently shows me how to do a lot with a little.
Davis’s Portrait was produced, mixed, and mastered by his Why? comrade Joshua Virtue.