New Music: Dave East - 'Peter Pan'

Dave East breaks down the plight of an immature middle-aged man on his latest release “Peter Pan,” which boasts boom-bap production from Mr. Authentic.

The Mass Appeal/Def Jam spitter digs into his storytelling bag for this narrative, about a 37-year-old ex-convict who “think he 22.” “Stuck in the past, guess somebody told him he the man,” raps Dave. “Some ni**as’ll never grow up, I call ’em Peter Pan.”

The song also acts as a warning about the trials of the street life and the cycle that many are trapped inside. “He loved his father but through his life he could not trust him,” he raps. “Damn near 40, just realized he ain’t got nothin’ / Had the green light for years, his connect hit the stop button / Back to nickel and dimin’ with young’ns on the block pumpin’.”

It’s unclear where “Peter Pan” is set to land, but it follows the release of Dave’s P2 mixtape, which arrived in January. Last year, the New York MC released Paranoia: A True Story and Karma.