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Final verdict: 8/10 ★★★★☆
DYLN NOT DVPO (formerly known as Dapo, real name Dylan Daponte) is an up-and-coming rapper based in Long Island, New York. It was just last week that he released his first full-length album; the coveted “MISSING”. But this is no ordinary LP – for no, it is a double LP. And you know, I am usually skeptical of double albums; more often than not, their essence can be captured in one disc, while the rest is just sort of… there. But for this specific album, I think the decision to make it into a double LP is fully justified, for reasons I will elaborate upon below.
“MISSING” tells the story of a man on a mission – a man who, going through tormenting times – having lost his girlfriend, his house and his perceived everything – opts for leaving his old life behind, and starting anew. Or, as the project’s title very explicitly states, going “missing”. The album cover powerfully sets the scene; what we got here is a park bench, quite strikingly featuring a missing person poster for none other than “Dapo” – the rapper’s former stage name. Beside that, an abandoned garment can be seen – whether it is a jacket or a sweater, one cannot know – but it does indicate that someone used to be there, and that someone is now gone. Thought provoking stuff. It is also stated in fine print that this album’s narrative is based on “a true story”, and you know, I have no reason to doubt that. Whether that disclaimer itself is part of a fictional story or the album truly is rooted in the rapper’s real life experiences, I am not sure, but either case adds to this album’s mysterious allure – because, well, it is an elusive project. From the looks of it though, we are in for one hell of an autobiographical ride.
The first half of the album follows the everyday life of the rapper as it used to be; lonely, grueling, with the subject desperately trying to grab onto any semblance of purpose and stability. The last song on the former disc is simply titled “MISSING”, and it narrates the person’s run away from all that he once knew – vividly illustrating the culmination of all that he had been through up until that point. With that context, the second half of the album commences, and it tells the story of the rapper’s life in voluntary exile. As the voicemail skits indicate, he is not truly “missing”, as in having disappeared without a trace. He is instead in a new unnamed location, lost and unsure of his direction in this new life, yet he chooses to maintain contact with his loved ones that he long knew. With that, the “missing” disc unfolds to be a complete emotional rollercoaster, with narrative effectively deployed throughout to express the uncertainty of life, as well as dwelling on other existential matters.
But well, that’s enough summary; let’s take a closer look into this quite majestic artefact of an album. One thing I for sure want to point out is the musicality of this project – arguably the most important aspect of any musical album. I quite enjoy the instrumentals here, with the expressive piano playing on “ALONE, TOGETHER” and the vaguely jazzy outro to “TIME OF MY LIFE” being highlights. The rapping itself is quite competent, but there’s not much else to comment on it.
This album’s biggest strength, however, is arguably the storytelling. While the lyrics are by no means masterfully written, the story told through them packs a punch through other factors, such as pacing and narrative techniques used (yes, I am an English literature major at university, and that has done me dirty in more ways than I can enumerate). As is particularly striking on the first half of the album, the narrator goes back and forth between different states of mind, with glimpses of hopefulness occasionally shining through the generally bleak mental imagery. That aids in listener engagement, since it builds anticipation before promptly letting go of that tension. This is, by all regards, a concept album in the full sense of the term. The unit of expression here isn’t the song – it’s the continuity of the album itself.
This is right about where I’d like to note that we are facing a glaring example of an unreliable narrator, but on second thought, I could be totally wrong about that. Here is my interpretation of it though; as with anyone who’s going through mentally tormenting times, the narrator sometimes loses the ball, likely by total accident. I generally love an unreliable narrator situation, and here I am willing to accept it as a means of furthering the narrative of frustration, confusion, and lack of direction. The rapper’s occasionally less than sensical ramblings really help make the final product more convincing in its claims of disarray and disorder, which I do certainly appreciate – who doesn’t love an effective storytelling sesh, am I right?
In “ALONE”, the rapper keeps going off about how he’s not truly alone, showing some kind of hesitation to admit to his deplorable situation. Then he goes back to claiming loneliness, before going on a rampage about the existence or nonexistence of God, and contemplating spirituality – existential crisis central, for sure. The rest of the songs express feelings of desperation and sadness through an existentialist lens as well, and the voicemail skits help to convincingly tie the loose ends together, providing very necessary context to the plot.
The rapper firmly remains bipolar in his views over the entire duration of this record, hitting the nail on the head through lyrics such as “Some things change, some things don’t / Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows” (“TIME HEALS”). Then you have the seeming optimism of “THE SHOW GOES ON”; “It’ll take a fucking wrecking ball to get him out of here! / The show goes on”, a line spoken directly after the narrating rapper goes missing. Really makes you think… In the voicemail skits, he expresses both frustration over lack of human contact, and an intention to keep ballin’ no matter what comes his way – conflicting feelings, that is.
All in all, “MISSING” certainly is an interesting effort. I admit I’m not awfully well-versed in rap music, for I don’t listen to a lot of it, but this one was definitely a fun (for this given definition of “fun”) and engaging listen, for what it’s worth. Storytelling and narrative are quite masterfully exploited in order to tell a convincing story, and the final product is nothing short of fascinating. That is not to say that it’s a flawless recording – but the good far outshines any potential mediocrity. This is an incredibly promising debut effort, hopefully the first of many for DYLN NOT DVPO. I hereby rate it an 8/10 and declare this review over.
Silia 
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