For Dale of Dale and the ZDubs, his new singles “The Way Back” featuring Benny Ranks and “Not Free Money” featuring DENM are more than just two new releases. They are the sound of an artist chasing a vision hard enough to jump a fence for it.
Speaking with The Pier, Dale described both songs as part of a bigger creative leap, one shaped heavily by producer DENM, whose work helped bring a sharper edge and a more modern feel to Dale’s recording process without losing the heart of what makes his music his own.
“I’m not the most proficient guitar player and have never been the best singer, but I believe in my lyrics.” Dale said. “[and] DENM has a nasty 6th sense for melody, for arrangement, and for sonic design. I critically listen to his music a lot, I know he has great taste.”
Dale’s collaboration with DENM did not begin with a manager, a formal pitch, or a carefully arranged studio session. It started at the Iration, Pepper, DENM & Artikal Sound System tour in Pompano, Florida in the summer 2024.
“I climbed this chain link fence, hopped into a tree, waited for the right moment and shimmied down …and then I just played it cool and sat outside DENM’s trailer for two hours,” Dale recalls.
Dale had come backstage prepared. In his phone were demos of songs he had written while incarcerated, tunes he believed needed the right producer to fully bring them to life. Dale explained that he was determined not to leave without at least introducing himself. When DENM finally stepped outside with members of his crew, Dale made his case face to face. He told him about the music, about the time he had spent writing behind bars, and about how badly he wanted to record the songs properly.
The moment could have easily gone the other way. Instead, DENM respected the persistence. According to Dale, the producer asked how long he had been waiting. When Dale told him, DENM turned to his crew and said, “That’s what it fucken takes,” before putting his number into Dale’s phone and telling him to reach out when he made it to California.
That chance encounter eventually became something much bigger. What started as a plan to record a couple songs grew into a full creative partnership, with DENM producing seven of the eleven tracks on Dale’s upcoming album arriving summer of 2026.
That chemistry is all over “The Way Back” and “Not Free Money,” which will both be part of the 11 song LP that drops later this year. The songs feel rooted in reggae and rock, but they do not sit comfortably inside either category. Instead, they live in the increasingly blurred space that artists in this scene have been building for years: melodic, scrappy, polished in the right places, and still raw enough to hit with real weight.
“The Way Back,” featuring Benny Ranks, leans into reflection and emotional clarity. Lines like “I used to think that it really mattered / All the things that never happened” capture a sense of hindsight and growth, while the repeated hook “Yeah we on the way, the way back” suggests something deeper than nostalgia, a return to something lost, whether that’s love, peace of mind, or simply a better version of yourself. The song balances melancholy with hope, its chorus light enough to feel uplifting even as the verses wrestle with feelings regret and self-reflection.
That emotional balance was part of what made Benny Ranks the perfect collaborator. Dale said DENM personally recommended Benny when he was looking for the right voice for the second verse of “The Way Back”, calling him the best lyricist and melody maker he knew.
Dale did not hesitate.
“DENM called Benny Ranks a generational talent in a recent post, the fact that he’s on our song is so dope and exciting. His verse is fire… Benny rolled through and wrote probably one of the most beautiful verses I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “He’s one of those guys where you can hear him sing two notes and you know it’s him.”
If “The Way Back” captures reflection and redemption, “Not Free Money” digs into the darker side of Dale’s story. The song is built around stark, autobiographical imagery from his time navigating the criminal justice system. Lines like “They got the guns, cuffs, judge and bus / Straight to the penitentiary” turn the chorus into a blunt reality check about the consequences of chasing fast money and fast living.
The song’s verses move between defiance and vulnerability. Dale references reading letters from loved ones while locked up and reflects on the choices that led him there, creating a narrative that feels less like glorification and more like a reckoning.
DENM and the Future
Dale sees DENM as one of the artists helping push the genre forward.
“I think he’s pushing the boundaries,” Dale said. “I think he’s showing us where this genre is going.”
At the same time, Dale was clear that the producer did not simply stamp his style over the material. Instead, he helped sharpen what was already there.
“The artist plays the song and gets everything he can out of the song,” Dale recalled DENM telling him. “The producer plays the artist and gets everything they can out of the artist.”
Dale said that was exactly what happened in the studio.
“I’d like to say that he pulled an artistry out of me that I didn’t know existed inside me,” he said.
For Dale, getting Benny Ranks on the record also reflects the creative energy surrounding the wider circle connected to DENM and the Slum Beach Posse. He spoke admiringly of the style, taste, and originality coming out of that camp and wanted some of that same spark around his own music. Still, Dale kept coming back to the same point: the lyrics have to matter first. That belief runs through both new singles and points toward the bigger picture for the record arriving Summer 2026. The production may be evolving, but the core of Dale’s music remains the same, personal stories delivered with honesty, even when they are uncomfortable to tell.
Magic of Collaboration
Together, the two singles present different sides of the same story: reflection and consequence, redemption and hard lessons learned. They also offer an early glimpse into the emotional range of the album arriving this summer, alongside a wide range of collaborations, including a feature with and multiple tracks produced by Surfer Girl.
Surfer Girl’s production adds another layer to the project’s evolving sound, with three tracks spanning different moments in the rollout: “Roseanne Bar (Basement)” featuring Shwayze, co-produced by Justin Spaulding, “She’s The One” featuring Tropidelic and the aformentioned Surfer Girl, and the unreleased “Best That We Can” featuring FeelFree and Sensamotion, which is set to arrive with the full album this summer.
For Surfer Girl, working with Dale meant stepping into a chaotic but fulfilling creative process.
“Working with Dale is a wild beast to tame, in the most beautiful way,” they said. “Sometimes he would start with a razor sharp vision of what exactly he was hoping for, other times it was a completely blank canvas ready for exploration. It’s rare you find someone so calculated, thoughtful, and self aware, while still allowing themselves the freedom to mess around and try stuff out until it works.”
That balance between intention and spontaneity seems to define the album as a whole. Surfer Girl also pointed to Dale’s willingness to push against expectations, both sonically and stylistically, noting that his decision to work closely with DENM reflects a broader commitment to evolving the genre rather than staying within its boundaries.
“I’m not surprised he tapped DENM, a trailblazer in this scene, to produce the majority of the album,” they added. “I’m just grateful that I got to feed off of, and contribute to that loose, fun loving energy that somehow authentically creates real, polished songs.”
As the album approaches, these collaborations are shaping up to be a major part of the story. With multiple voices and perspectives feeding into the project, Dale and the ZDubs upcoming LP is starting to look less like a single band’s statement and more like a snapshot of a wider creative community in motion.
For now, Dale is letting the songs breathe.
“I love them,” he said. “They just came out recently. So let’s give them a couple summers and see what the reaction is.”
For an artist willing to jump a fence for the right opportunity, trusting instinct seems to be working just fine.
Stay tuned for a deeper breakdown of these collaborations and the full feature lineup as we get closer to the album’s release this summer.
