Santan Dave is British Nigerian aka David Orobosa Omoregie born to Edo immigrants Frank and Juliet Doris Omoregie in Streatham, London. He is the last of three boys. His middle name Orobosa is a traditional Bini name of the people of Benin City, Edo State which means everything is in God’s hands.
Below, is Santan Dave’s song called “Black” in which the visuals along with the lyrics reference both his country and the diaspora especially in the UK. In the song, Dave shouts out to the diversity of experience within the word Santan Dave first began by stating “black ain’t just a single fuckin’ colour, man there’s shades to it”. In this line, he is referring to the different types of black in the United Kingdom where he grew up. While saying these lyrics, in the music video, he shows different African people with different skin colors. The lyrics are essentially the history lesson that UK schools never bothered to give them as the UK education system encourages its students to grow up not seeing race at all, nor seeing how instrumental Britain was in how the current state of black oppression even came to be.
Above is an example of how Dave references the slave coast that is located in Benin West Africa and educates his British brothers and sisters on what exactly went down during these times. In the background, he represents his Edo tribe traditional wedding clothes while he wears a turtleneck sweater that is normally known to be a traditional British wear. While Dave does this, he also educates his fellow Africans on the issues of being black in the Diaspora. He does this by referencing getting stopped by the police, anyone rich and his age is American and most likely white, etc. Additionally, while doing this, he also hows how different things are done in the UK and how they are done in Nigeria; for example: the scene with the barber, the scene with the different pets, the scene with two different people wearing different types of jewelry, etc.
Attached below is Dave’s music video “Black”