Today, East Tampa rapper Taleban Dooda returns with the raw and unfiltered new single “Come After Me.” The rising MC’s first solo release of 2023 finds him in a typically defiant mood as he lays down the gauntlet for haters. “Come After Me” is accompanied by a suitably savvy video. Watch it above.
Propelled by a wicked guitar hook, “Come After Me” showcases Dooda’s melodic, sing-song flow as he lays down the rules of engagement. “Once you in it then you in it, ain’t no duckin’ beef,” he raps over aggressive beats. “Everybody’s gotta pick a side, it ain’t no inbetween.” Come for the 20-year-old, however, and you better be ready to take on his whole crew: “All they need is a word from me.”
The track’s raucous, freewheeling tone is perfectly captured in the Benny Flash-directed video. In it, Dooda holds court at an outdoor party — dancing, turning up with his homies, and generally having a wild time. Watch it HERE. “Come After Me” follows the Florida upstart’s Step Wit A Passion mixtape, which arrived in late 2022 and boasted the undeniable single “If It Happen It Happen.”
That project followed Dooda’s other 2022 release White Chalk & Yellow Tape, which is disarmingly cohesive from front to back. That hard-hitting collection included “It’s Me,” a series of verbal vignettes from the MC’s past over piano notes and a minimal drum beat, and “Go” — a track that takes aim at “social beef.” Prior to that, he dropped a series of singles including “Foreigns & Trackhawks,” “Sunset,” and “Call 100 Times.”
ABOUT TALEBAN DOODA:
Taleban Dooda has the type of voice you remember. The Tampa rapper’s piercing delivery on singles like “Spin” has always caught listeners by surprise. With a knack for delirious melodies and an unshakeable bravado, he’s used that sound to become a rising star with chaotic charm, penning spirited stories that shine thanks to his uniquely high-pitched vocals. Last year, the 20-year-old released his debut album, Fallen Angel. That record, as well as a string of solemn singles that includes 2021’s “Call 100 Times,” became a safe space for the grief he has nowhere else to put. Dooda’s journey to the top of Florida rap has had its twists and turns. In high school, he tried his hand at football until he realized his voice would probably take him further than sports could. He eventually dropped out and got to work, releasing the early hit “Dreams & Reality” in 2019. Fallen Angel, which followed in 2021, was crafted as a testimony to the course his life could’ve taken without music. It is a remembrance to the lives of lost loved ones, and a promise that their stories will be inspirations as he continues on his journey. Now with new music on the horizon and a record deal with Warner, fans can expect the rapper to experiment with sounds beyond the gritty beats that have become his signature. As his first viral song foreshadowed, Dooda’s reality is finally catching up to his dreams. “I just want everybody to see I ain’t here for a little bit,” he says. “I’m here for a long time. I ain’t done yet.”
