Proklaim “YSL”

Just like the cover art in a distinct black and white, “YSL” tears all the pretense and avoidance down, exposing the crude reality with some hard-hitting truth. The aesthetic of black and white is at core throughout this track, one that prays for the unresting soul, forcefully taken, and one that reflects on the good and evil.

Proklaim is a hip-hop artist who doesn’t look away from things that matter. Many of us do, in our daily life, choosing what’s easy and look away from what’s ugly and terrifying. His lyrics feel like a good dose of medicine for the soul. It may be bitter and crude, but it has a purpose and a meaning. That’s something really powerful about the music he writes.

“YSL” has a haunting backdrop and an even more haunting hook that seems to gaze right into your soul. It’s nothing more than one man’s truth, but it hits home and has an effect on you. The track is chilling in many sense. Of course, it does, it looks the devil right in the eyes. Proklaim mentioned the devil several times throughout the song. From the murder of Eliza Fletcher, he tackles drug use, violence, the evil in men, men that are lost. “Procrastination is the devil.”

Maybe the track doesn’t speak out loud of salvation and redemption. Maybe in some cases it’s too late, but the emotive backdrop seems to call for light and guidance. There’s a prayer in the underlying sonics, behind the lyrics. That too holds power.