
For the past several years, Spotify Original podcast DISSECT has delved deep into impactful albums, including Frank Ocean's Blonde, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, Beyonc 's Lemonade, and more. The show crossed the pond this April and premiered in the U.K. as Decode. The new podcast features the same track-by-track analysis and insightful commentary, but with notable albums coming out of the U.K.-starting with rapper Dave's Brit and Mercury Award-winning 2019 album PSYCHODRAMA.
Tune in as Zambian-British author Kayo Chingonyi dives into an in-depth exploration of the lyrical metaphors embedded throughout Dave's breathtaking debut album. With each song, he unpacks the modern British Black experience as Dave relates it to criminal justice, race, poverty, sexuality, toxic masculinity, and mental health stigma.
Kayo devotes one episode to Black and, in particular, Dave's performance of the track at the Brit Awards in February 2020. Dave's live rendition included new, politically charged verses that took the audience by surprise, ignited a conversation about racism in the U.K., and resonated with fans: The track saw an 1,889% increase in streams on Spotify after the performance.
For the Record asked Kayo to reflect on what makes Decode unique to the UK, as well as the impact of Dave's salient and raw rendition of Black.
Decode is a new podcast, but takes its shape after Spotify's successful DISSECT show in the U.S. What parts of the podcast are you keeping close to the original model? DISSECT really honours musical creativity, meeting each album with curiosity and passion. With Decode, we've kept that sense of reverence and also that passion, that connection to music as a universal language that can travel to all corners of the world, lodging itself in the hearts and minds of listeners. Both shows ask questions about that magical process of communion between artist, song, and listener.
How are you making it your own? How does your own background as a poet, lyricist, and vocalist shape this? As a writer all that I ever try to do is bring out the latent music in language, in words. As an emcee of Dave's stripe, that's a central concern, too. He's interested not just in what words mean but how that meaning is enacted by their sound. As far as making it my own, I think it's important to make the connection to Dave's work as a writer. There's maybe an inside perspective I can give as someone who has been writing and spitting lyrics since my early teens. I recognise the world Dave describes.
Why is it important for the U.K. to have a version of this show for itself? The U.K. is a centre of global musical culture. There are many, of course, but I think the U.K.'s role has been downplayed in recent history. Things are starting to shift, and as they do, it's important to look at musical culture from a global perspective. Black music especially is a global sound. It has always been, because our music travels with us.
What makes PSYCHODRAMA by Dave worthy of decoding first? PSYCHODRAMA is a balance of compositional and lyrical excellence. It's not just music as entertainment, although you can shock out to it. The album honours the arcane roots of music as a technology, a kind of spiritual communication across distances of culture and space. It's an album that I think will go on to define our times.
Last week you discussed the track Black, which had a moment that stood alone during the Brits last year-it even has its own Genius lyrics page. What did that rendition, at that event, signify? Adding that verse really showed Dave's ability to respond to the times and also the way a track like Black will, I'm sad to say, always be resonant in a society like ours, built on what it is built on. That was a state of the nation moment at the Brits, an opportunity to step from behind the veil of entertainment that Dave took and ran with. It was the throwing down of a gauntlet-to government, to listeners, to fellow artists.
What conversation are you hoping to spark or continue from the 2020 Brits performance to this podcast episode? I want to engage people in the layers of history that come together to shape our present moment. There is so much we could be asking questions about and, above all, I think PSYCHODRAMA invites its listeners to keep asking these questions. That's what I would like people to take from the podcast-this desire to ask.
What album are you looking forward to decoding next? So many! I'm keen to look at older albums. Look How Long by Loose Ends, Blue Lines by Massive Attack, Timeless by Goldie, or Dummy by Portishead, maybe. In terms of recent albums, Burial's Untrue made me shed tears the first time I listened to it so it's high on my list.
Ahead of the 2021 Brits, tune in to the Black episode of Decode below.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/02/2026
Berklee Alumni Recognized at the 2026 Grammy Awards Winners took home trophies in nine categories, including Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Songwriter o...
02/02/2026
SBS's High-Flying Drama The Airport Chaplain casts Hugo Weaving alongside Th...
02/02/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in partnership with the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), is calling for applications from experienced Sou...
02/02/2026
Photo Credit: NASA. Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion Spacecraft rollou...
02/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/02/2026
Hewshott, an industry leading global AV, IT, Theatre, and Acoustics consultancy firm has completed a global transition with current UK Managing Director, Daniel...
02/02/2026
Public Media Management (PMM) today announced LTN as the technology partner for PMM Cloud, its new managed, cloud-based master control solution purpose-built fo...
02/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/02/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/02/2026
XR, the leading platform powering advertising operations, today announced the acquisition of Telly Traffic, a UK-based business affairs specialist with nearly t...
02/02/2026
Big Blue Marble, a provider of broadcast-grade, cloud-native video solutions for broadcasters, service providers, and content owners, has become a launch partne...
02/02/2026
February 2 2026, 20:30 (PST) Mahindra launches XUV 7XO as Indias first vehicle ...
02/02/2026
Teaser available to view HERE
Damien Molony as Jim Bergerac
Ahead of the hotly anticipated return of Bergerac to U and U&DRAMA in the Spring, a teaser has bee...
02/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz reshapes mid-range market with new 44 GHz FPL spectrum analyzer ...
02/02/2026
Back to All News
Cesc Gays New Film Premieres March 27 on Netflix
Entertainment
02 February 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the first i...
02/02/2026
In addition to DPA Microphones, the company will also be acquiring Wisycom and Austrian Audio. The acquisition is now being filed for regulatory approval and sh...
02/02/2026
Arvato Systems launches a flexible and standardized billing solution
New SAP S/4HANA Utilities master system combines standardization, economies of scale, and...
31/01/2026
Spotify's annual Best New Artist celebration returned to Los Angeles last ni...
31/01/2026
The Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 launch a Long Range Attack Missile from an AH-1Z off coast of Virginia in late 2025. This demonstration ...
31/01/2026
DigitalGlue, creator of the award-winning creative.space Platform, has announced the release of creative.space OS 3.0.5, the latest software update within the ...
31/01/2026
ES Broadcast Hire, the long-established hire arm of ES Media Group, has spent the last few months busily preparing and sending out high-quality equipment for a ...
31/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Top L-R: The Friend's House is Here, Josephine, The Lake, Bedford Park, Who Killed Alex Odeh?
Second Row L-R: Take Me Home, American Pachuco: The Legend of...
30/01/2026
Spotify, Haziran ay sonunda kadar stanbul'da yeni bir ofis a aca n ve T rkiye pazar n y netmek zere yeni bir atama ger ekle tirdi ini duyurdu. Bu kaps...
30/01/2026
The Artemis II wet dress rehearsal will simulate the launch countdown, fully loading fuel and verifying systems ahead of the first SLS and Orion crewed flight....
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Grass Valley , the leading technology provider for live production solutions, and NETGEAR Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), a global leader in network solutions, today anno...
30/01/2026
tvONE, a leading video processor, signal distribution technology and media server developer, announces the expansion of Amit Singh's role to Regional Sales ...
30/01/2026
With a career that spans four decades across television, film and post-production, Freelance Sound Designer and Post-production Sound Mixer Mike Aiton has built...
30/01/2026
DPA Microphones will feature its new, fully integrated wireless microphone ecosystem, designed to let audio professionals work faster, cleaner and with total co...
30/01/2026
As the Middle East continues to accelerate investment in next-generation media, broadcast, and immersive content technologies, Ventum Tech today announced a str...
30/01/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a Nikon company and global leader in robotic camera systems, today announced its participation at Integrated Systems Europe ...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Hosts the National Opera Association's 2026 C...
30/01/2026
Student Spotlight: Sriram Narayanan The classical pianist shares his experience growing up with a language disability and finding his voice through music.
Ja...