“Harvey” is written and produced by Status the Marlboro Man. The beat was produced on the Akai MPC 2000xl. The title is in reference to the Batman villain known as Two-Face, whose real name is Harvey Dent.
In Harvey’s comic arch, Two-Face starts off as a righteous man who fights injustices but is wronged and later becomes a ruthless killer. There’s a line from the Dark Knight film in which Harvey Dent explains that heros either die or live long enough to become the villain. In Status’ track “Harvey”, the line is sampled as the intro, setting up a scenario in which a super power, once revered, has become so vicious over time that they’re unaware they’ve become the bad guy in their fight.
“Harvey” uses middle eastern samples and brooding bass, hard boom-bap drum loops and drops. Lyrics such as “Does the hero live long enough to be the villain – the enemy of my enemy is killing children” are poetic yet to the point. It is the duty of each individual to use their voice or medium to create awareness. There are atrocities taking place in modern times in Palestine and abroad. Innocent civilians are being murdered and bullied. “Harvey” aims to shed light on both the oppressed and the oppressors.