Songfacts®:

• "Paper Cuts" finds Dave delving into drill for the first time. UK drill rose to prominence in South London in the mid-2010s and is noted for its graphic lyrical content. The genre borrows heavily from drill music, which is a style of hip-hop with trap beats that originated in Chicago.
• Dave originally teased "Paper Cuts" on his Instagram back in April 2019. The preview garnered huge interest as his fans had never heard him exploring drill before. The south London star eventually released the track on November 7, 2019, shortly before he embarked on an US tour.
• Dave's hard-hitting bars include more of his trademark football metaphors.
  
  Take a man out like Ramos
  Still can't dead this beef
  
  The rapper compares the way he deals with his rivals to how the Spanish defender Sergio Ramos "takes out" opposing forwards.
• The punishing drill beat was produced by Ghosty, one of the central architects of the sound. His other productions include Digga D's "No Diet," one of the first drill tracks to reach the UK Top 20.