It’s only been three years since Daniel Caesar dropped his sophomore set CASE STUDY 01, but with an entire pandemic happening between then and now, it feels like much longer. In the first quarter of last year, it seemed like he had something new up his sleeve when he dropped his single “Please Do Not Lean.” The momentum behind that fizzled, however, and he’s been nearly radio silent on the solo front since (though he did find the time to collaborate with Justin Bieber and Givēon on the GRAMMY-nominated smash “Peaches”). Until now, that is, as he steps on the scene with new single “Do You Like Me?”.
Daniel doesn’t come to play on this one, as he teams up with heavy hitters Sir Dylan and the legendary Raphael Saadiq on the production front to craft a dreamy, soulful number full of the butterflies that new love creates. He fills the rest in with his vocal, which switches between sweet falsetto and sturdy tenor as he seeks answers in a romance that’s starting to bud.
“Do you like the way I talk to you? / Do I titillate your mind? / Gotta say I like your attitude / And I’d love to make you mine,” he sings on the opening verse. “But I gotta know / Do you really like me? Do you really like me?”. However, though he seems insecure there, he’s a bit more willing to leave it up to chance on the chorus, singing simply, “Guess we’ll find out / Guess we’ll wait and see / Know I like you, babe / Hope you like me.”
“Do You Like Me?” is a bit of a return to the Daniel Caesar that we knew and loved back in his Freudian days. Here’s hoping that vibe stays consistent as he prepares to bring whatever he has next to the masses. Check out a stream of “Do You Like Me?” and the song’s lyric video when you press play below.
