Song You Need: DaBoii’s “Built” is sneakily catchy

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

When asked about the SOB x RBE split earlier this year, DaBoii spoke about it with clarity that only comes with time: “A lot of motherfuckers don’t understand how good it is to bump your head sometimes,” the Vallejo rapper said. “It makes you look at yourself in the mirror, makes you realize shit about yourself.” DaBoii’s chosen to bet on himself, and with that has come a new phase of his career as a solo artist.

There’s something sneakily catchy about “Built.” I can’t tell if it’s the jumpy piano vamp and the rattly hi-hats that tick like a too-loud wristwatch, the animated sway of DaBoii’s voice, or that loopy sing-song he switches to right before the two-minute mark that makes him sound like he’s part of an old-timey barbershop quartet. It’s all done with finesse, all of these parts woven together smoothly so the seams don’t show. “You know my niggas bust poles, all my niggas cutthroat / Literally, knife to your neck, cutthroat,” he raps with a mischievous smirk. It’s hard to sell those on-the-nose bars like they’re slick, but DaBoii makes them sound like you’ve never heard them before.