DRAM has returned with What Had Happened Was…(Deluxe Edition), an expanded version of his third album.
What Had Happened Was… (Deluxe Edition) features six new tracks, including “I Need a Light” with Snoop Dogg and “Brandy Joint” featuring Daniel Hex.
DRAM also includes his Virginia-based collective, The Bakery Boys, for three tracks. Meanwhile, he includes a club mix of “Wham,” the album’s lead single, released in September 2022.
DRAM opened up with The Fader about the standard version of his most recent album.
“WHHW… has been my personal therapy, and I hope it brings comfort to anyone who can relate. It encapsulates the mix of raw emotions that I’ve been dealing with on my own for some time now. It’s dark, it’s fun, it’s triumphantly sexy, but most importantly, it’s a classic,” he explained.
Released on Nov. 10, 2022, What Had Happened Was… marked DRAM’s first album since rebranding himself from Shelley FKA DRAM. It was also his first album under his Waver Records imprint.
At year-end, Rated R&B named What Had Happened Was… one of its 30 Best R&B Albums of 2022. It ranked No. 15.
“On What Had Happened Was…, DRAM pours directly from his heart into our ears. He gives himself to feel every emotion exuded through the 19 tracks; that’s as real as it gets,” wrote Rated R&B’s Keithan Samuels.
Earlier this spring, DRAM reissued his latest album as a live work. Only the proper tracks were updated as live versions.
What Had Happened Was… is DRAM’s first full-length album since 2021’s Shelley FKA DRAM, which was featured on Rated R&B’s 30 Best R&B Albums of 2021 list. H.E.R., Erykah Badu, Summer Walker, and Watt contributed to the LP.
Listen to DRAM’s What Had Happened Was… (Deluxe Edition) below.