Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 60

DAVE EAST
A Harlem-based MC signed to Nas' label Mass Appeal,
rapper Dave East was born David Brewster. He became
Dave East in 2011 when he released the mixtape Change
of Plans, while 2012 saw him drop four more. The final
one from that year, Gemini, landed in the hands of Nas,
who signed East to his label in 2013. The Mass Appeal-
affiliated mixtape Straight Outta Harlem dropped in
2014 and Black Rose landed a year later. In 2016, XXL
magazine featured him as part of their annual
"Freshman Class" feature, and the Kairi Chanel tape
followed on Mass Appeal later in the year with guest
verses from 2 Chainz, Fabolous, and Cam'ron, among
others. Issued just after East publicized his deal with Def
Jam, it debuted in the Top Five of Billboard's R&B/hip-
hop chart and scraped the Top 40 of the all-genre
Billboard 200. In 2017, he issued the single "Perfect"
with Chris Brown.