Music Review: DaHv - "Suburbia Disturbia"
Published August 26, 2007
What if Eminem had been born into more favorable circumstances? Would his music have been different? What if he had two parents who cared about him and who gave him a middle class to upper middle class lifestyle? It is kinda funny at first, if you think about it. Like what could there possibly be in that world to write songs based in anger and pain? Then again, I suppose those things are relative. One kid's pain over a crackhead mom might be the same as another kid's pain over a dad who works too much, at least from the perspective of that person.
What led me to this train of thought was a friend request I received the other day on Myspace from a rap/pop artist who just happened to be a 14 year old girl from Boston. I checked out her profile and she lists some of her major influences as Eminem and Avril Lavigne. I listened to the songs she has up on her Myspace and I liked "Suburbia Disturbia" right away. So, I read over the info on that page and then went to her main website to learn more.
I found out she is a serious performer who has had a mention in Billboard magazine, been inducted in some way into Radio Disney's artist incubator program, and had one of her songs featured as the background music to a political cartoon on whitehouse.com. Not bad for a 13 year old.
She co-writes her own songs and says, "I wanted to write about things that my friends and other kids my age could relate to. Going to the mall, the classes we all hate in school, and all of the crazy things that go on at parties."
She does the song Suburbia Disturbia in a sort or pap/rap format and it works for her. In it she talks bout some of the problems facing a teenager in middle class New England (she mentions her posse in Martha's Vineyard in one of her blog entries... nuf said). Since she lists Eminem as one of her major influences, I couldn't help but picture Eminem doing songs based on similar circumstances and it was pretty funny. Then again maybe it is something like thinking of Weird Al Yankovic doing some kind of cover of an Eminem song.
Covering mainstream music, the New York City indie rock scene and off-Broadway theater productions. Also articles on science, the ongoing effects of climate change, and alternative energy. 
- Music Review: DaHv - "Suburbia Disturbia"
- Published: August 26, 2007
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Rap, Music: Pop, Music: Indie Rock
- Writer: Mike Johnston
- Mike Johnston's BC Writer page
- Mike Johnston's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Good Review...
...she talks (a)bout some of the problems facing a teenager in middle class New England"
It may not be my type of stuff,but,it's good to see someone producing music that actually relates to their experience. Atleast she's not spewing on about "Ice" & "Bling" just to cash in on the present trend.
wow, not only is it seriously catchy stuff, it makes a point too. we all know that kids that age think about these things, but it seems pretty rare for it to be articulated so well.
Her "Pass The Shirley Temple" is a great track too, it makes my brain go zinga zing zong!
At first I liked her because her music sucked so bad it was almost endearing. Then I noticed I couldn't get her songs out of my head. As Chan Marshall once said, "I could take a thousand showers and never be clean"...
Zinga zing zong = drunk.
Think about it.
you people cannon be serious, this girl needs to be terminated
OMG Dahv is like the best!!!!!!!
I live, breath and sweat Dahv. All the way babygirl and never forget your #1.
Pass the Shirley Temple was a cutting edge revolutionary track, I have high expectations for DaHv's social commentary on Suburbia Disturbia.
after reading this article and then reading these comments -- some for and some against DaHv .. seems to reinforce the fact that the author is dead on:
This 14 year old 'DaHv' totally reminds me of the emergence of Eminem.
There is no way in hell anyone on this planet who has any taste in any music could possibly like this. Eminem is horrible too, but even compairing his annoyance and hers is on a totally different level. "I ended up seeing her as a serious artist." You sir have lost all respect for a credible review.
The author of this blog clearly just wants to tap that.
"some are freaks,some are geeks,some are even super chic"
-Dahv,Mean Girls
what the hell?
just because something rhymes doesn't mean it fits with the song. i understand the whole Mean Girls concept,but come on.
Eric Olsen is just throwing DaHv a softball because she is a fourteen year old girl. Her, "observations with a kind of wry humor and surprising wisdom," are the bablings of a preeteen girl who has watched too many episodes of Desperate Housewives and who doesn't like it when adults tell her to clean up.
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my favorite line ...
'the mortgages are disturbia, but they always find a way to have a party'
so true with today's massive mortgage mess!