The whole convo around dvsn’s song ‘If I Get Caught’ is ridiculously amusing—I love it

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

Let’s just start at the top: On Friday, July 22, 2022, dvsn—the duo comprised of singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85—dropped a song produced in conjunction with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, titled “If I Get Caught.” It samples Jay-Z’s line from “Song Cry” off of his famed 2001 album The Blueprint: “I was just f—n’ them girls, I was gon’ get right back”—a song I’m sure doesn’t get much airplay in the Knowles-Carter household. Dvsn’s take is absolutely ridiculous, but in a fun way. For instance, here is the hook:

If I get caught cheating, that don’t mean I don’t lovе you

If I get caught cheating (Chеating), that don’t mean I don’t love you

I know, I know you won’t let one little f—k (One little f—k)

Mess all this up (Mess all this up)

Don’t let one mistake (One mistake)

Take all this away (Take all this away)

Don’t let one little f—k (If they know now)

Mess all this up (An affair, yeah)

Don’t let one mistake

Take all this away (Get right back)

To ensure maximum foolishness, the hook is sung in choral style PERFECTLY suited for any club for the remainder of the summer. This will be the one slow song playing all over just to get to the hook so a gaggle of dudes can each yell/scream in their girlfriends’ faces that, well, if he gets caught cheating it does not mean he doesn’t love her. On the post announcing the song drop, dvsn captioned it with: THE ANTHEM WE ALL NEEDED. 

Speak for yourself, Daniel. Don’t bring that evil around me. I’m doing just fine.

Now look, is the song toxic? Of course—that’s almost the point. Is it honest (as Daniel has alleged)? Eh, it’s a trifling dude summer jam. It’s an actual F-Boy anthem; Donnell Jones would never. It’s also dangerous; the song is fun so you gon’ see dudes who know better and would never sing right along with their triflin’ homies who literally have been waiting for a song that speaks directly to them in such a direct way. But at the same time, going after this song for its toxicity is kind of nonsense. A LOT of songs are toxic. Hell, toxic might as well have been an entire genre in the ‘70s and we sing along to those songs just fine. 

Future has basically made a career out of being toxic…and we just turn him into toxic memes for fun. As I recently revisited Toni Braxton’s catalog because of the Boomerang soundtrack, her emotionally manipulative “Breathe Again” definitely deserves a seat at the toxic table. Point is, “If I Get Caught” is a mess, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it could be; it might even be lazy (though fun and communal), simply stating things many men say every single time they get caught cheating. 

This brings us to .

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