NLE Choppa & Imagine Dragons, Dare U | Song Review

Memphis rapper NLE Choppa and alternative rock/pop collective Imagine Dragons join forces for the short but entertaining single, “Dare U.”

“D

are you, dare you / Say it to my face, I dare you,” Dan Reynolds asserts in the intro to “Dare U”.  NLE Choppa and Imagine Dragons join forces on “Dare U,” a single that clocks in under two-and-a-half minutes.  This seems like an unlikely collaboration, yet, here we are.  It wouldn’t be the first time Reynolds and company collaborated with a rapper, but did we expect Memphis to be in the house? “Dare U” features nine songwriters, including NLE Choppa, the members of Imagine Dragons, and producer Johnny Goldstein./otw_shortcode_dropcap]

Following Reynolds’ intro, NLE Choppa spits in the first verse.  Absent from his rhymes are curse words. That’s expected from Imagine Dragons, but not NLE Choppa. Despite the lack of obscenities (no SLUT SZN on this one), he still brings the heat with a compelling cadence and flow.  “I knock a few M’s, my bank account trim / I promise you you ain’t richer than my daughter,” he raps, concluding, “Step by step and take it day by day / I pray that death ain’t a second a way / Minimum wage was back in them days / But now we paid, they say I’m the greatest.” Woo! The rapper also spits in the second verse, dropping Jamaican patois and remaining confident to the nth degree. “Who got the most heart? I’ma show somethin’ / Elevated, I’ve been dedicated, now they tellin’ me, ‘Congratulations.’” Dan Reynolds gets into the mix too, holding things down in the centerpiece, the chorus:

“You can take my life, whet your knife

You’ll never get me out alive

Try and try the cat’s nine lives

You’ll never get me out alive

Dare you, dare you

Say it to my face, I dare you…”

Ultimately, “Dare U” is entertaining.  Is it the second coming? No, but NLE Choppa and Dan Reynolds are high-energy throughout. It’s a fun collaboration. The production is sleek, with big, minor key synths and thunderous hits.  The chorus is catchy if corny. It is a harmless, inoffensive hip-hop/pop cut.

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NLE Choppa & Imagine Dragons // “Dare U” // NLE Choppa Entertainment Inc. / Warner // 1.16.25

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[: NLE Choppa Entertainment Inc. / Warner]

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