King Promise – True To Self Album Review: A Decent Afropop Folder

King Promise’s True to Self is surely one of a kind. The Ghanaian singer-songwriter Gregory Bortey Newman, famously known as King Promise, is a name synonymous with Afrobeats. Born in 1995, King Promise has been a dominant force in the genre since he burst onto the scene in 2016. His debut single ThankGod, featuring Fuse ODG, remains a timeless track that continues to resonate with fans. Over nearly a decade, King Promise has cemented his status as one of the leading voices in Ghana and across Africa, thanks to his captivating melodies and relatable lyrics.

In 2019, King Promise unveiled his debut album, As Promised. This 15-track masterpiece featured collaborations with heavyweights like Sarkodie, Mugeez, Wizkid, and Simi. The album was a monumental success, delivering hit songs such as Tokyo with Wizkid, Abena, and Selfish Pt.2 featuring Simi.

Three years later, King Promise returned with his sophomore album, 5 Star. This project saw him teaming up with Omah Lay, Headie One, Patoranking, and others. The album spawned several hit singles, including Slow Down, 10 Toes featuring Omah Lay, and Ring My Line featuring Headie One.

Following a string of successful singles like Perfect Combi featuring Gabzy, Terminator, Favourite Story featuring Olivetheboy and Sarkodie, and Continental featuring Shallipopi, King Promise has now released his third studio album, True To Self. This 12-track album, running for 37 minutes, dropped on June 14, 2024, under the exclusive license of 5K Records Limited and Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.

King Promise’s journey is a testament to his evolution as an artist and his unwavering commitment to the Afrobeats genre. With each release, he continues to push boundaries and captivate audiences worldwide.

True to Self is a proper Afropop folder with a highlife feel, afrobeats’ energy, dancehall and more. On the album, King Promise shows he’s an intentional man with records of different vibes, messages and moods in a bid to offer different vibes for different people and different occasions. 

While Continental featuring Shallipopi can easily pass as a club banger, Permission which features Nigerian sensational singer Fave is a mid-tempo tune for lovers. 

Produced by Telz, Paranoid on the other hand is a sensual tune featuring Fridayy with promise-filled lyrics laid casually on a calm and tense-free instrumental. 

In summary, the True to Self album by King Promise is a decent attempt to capture the singer’s mind space but just not enough to uncover his true self nor a representation of his untapped talent. I would like to believe that King Promise is too talented for such an album. 

Aside from a few songs that evidently stand out in instrumentation, melodies and songwriting, others are pretty much not up to the King Promise standard.