Dahi – Black Boy (Alternative) [Album Stream]

Dahi steps into the foreground with debut album Black Boy (Alternative), bringing together hip-hop, rock, soul, and West African influences.

After spending more than a decade helping other artists locate the center of their records, Dahi uses his debut album to stop separating the different parts of his own musical life. Black Boy (Alternative) pulls hip-hop, ’90s rock, West African rhythms, soul, and experimental R&B into the same space, turning what could have been a star-heavy producer showcase into something much more personal.

Even the title maps out that idea. Dahi has described “Black Boy” as carrying both the ugly history of Black men being called boys and his connection to the imaginative kid he once was, while “Alternative” reflects a lifelong tendency to exist just outside any single circle. Guitar became one of the album’s connective tissues, a sound he could trace through rock, soul, and African music while combining live musicianship with programmed production.

That approach was already audible on “Running,” where Childish Gambino’s vocals move through a production that grows from a sparse opening into heavier drums, distortion, and layered voices. “Square Up” with Fousheé pushed the rollout in another direction, while the full record lets Obongjayar ride layered guitar work on “Love Me” and brings Kendrick Lamar and Amber Mark together for “How To Pray.” An official video for the latter arrives with the album.

Vince Staples, Channel Tres and French Anthony open the record on “Who Are You,” Moses Sumney and Mez share “Find Me,” and the closing stretch brings Jesse Boykins III, Baby Rose and Ant Clemons into “Stand For Something” before Elmiene and Ravyn Lenae finish with “Drowning.” Yet the guests never become the premise. After years of shaping other people’s ideas, Black Boy (Alternative) finally gives Dahi a record built around how his own seemingly separate worlds fit together.