On his latest single, "My Brother," Proclaim, an artist from East Los Angeles, not only gives you music, but he delivers grief in its most raw actuality. It's a deeply personal song, a eulogy for one of his best friends who died of a drug overdose last year, but it also frames a broader story about brotherhood, pain, hardship, and survival on the margins. Proclaim, an alternative hip-hop artist whose lyrics are rooted in the hard concrete of Chicano gang culture, isn't afraid of vulnerability. Instead, he leans into it.
"My Brother" is formed of the bricks of conscious hip-hop and is steered by reflection, not rage. The beat is a heavy, soulful pulse, giving every word room to shudder and land, and they do. The production is minimal, almost restrained, but that's what allows the emotion to resonate further. Proclaim speaks as one who has come through the fire bearing the scars, not to show off, but for the sake of remembrance. There's an era-appropriate coat of keyhole memories to splash onto a lost life and a refusal to accept the systems and cycles that make loss seem inevitable in some communities.
As a product of 90s West Coast hip-hop, Proclaim comes from that lineage, but there's a twist of his own that's more meditative and emotionally oriented. "My Brother" is not only a reflection of Proclaim's pain; it's a reflection of his purpose. Proclaim is a firm believer in speaking his own truth, uncensored and unfiltered, and this song is a perfect example of that ethos in practice. "My Brother" is a reminder to listeners that every name tattooed on a wall, every RIP shirt, and every makeshift candlelight vigil has a story beneath it, one worth telling and one worth hearing. And so in the land where content reigns as the signature performative form, Proclaim stands out. "My Brother" is a testimony.
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