Proklaim is a British born, Namibia based rapper who primarily plays with the genres of hip-hop and afrobeats. He is also known as Birungi Alexander Kiremire and his muted social media presence stands in juxtaposition with consistency with which he has dropped singles since 2018. His latest single “Promised Land” is an impressive addition to his extensive discography.

The track starts of with horns that are quite grand and celebratory and have vintage tones that remind the listener of a party in the 80s. The percussion is simple yet heavy and groovy. The synth is quite light and subdued but adds a lot of brightness to the track. The background vocals sound like a chopped-up sample, if so, I think it is quite an excellent and memorable choice.

Proklaim jumps on the track almost immediately and shows us that his speedy rap skills are still alive, waiting to be expressed. He flows fluently and taps into his hip-hop pocket and sprinkles in his signature ad-libs. I personally wished Proklaim would display more variation in terms of his flow. The instrumentation remains consistent and given that the track is only two minutes long, the song writing is enough to keep a listener tuned in and engaged.

Lyrcially “Promised Land” falls within the themes explored by Proklaim on his other tracks such as self-promotion and stories of hardship, always with a splash of wisdom. I particularly enjoyed the line “your own thoughts taking you off your own course….bear your own cross.  I thought these lines of being responsible and bearing your own pain had clever writing and serendipitous rhyming.

Make sure to check out “Promised Land” by Proklaim here: