King Promise was surrounded by music from a young age thanks to his “music-head” father who unintentionally helped shape his genre and culture-spanning taste. Drawing inspiration from Ghanaian Highlife, Afrobeats, and R&B, the Accra native was able to develop a unique sound of his own. 

His talent was first recognized in 2016 from his breakout single “Oh Yeah,” followed by a string of successful tracks that led him to become one of Ghana’s most popular musicians. In 2019, King Promise released his critically acclaimed debut album, As Promised, featuring Wizkid, Simi, Sarkodie, Omar Sterling, Mugeez, and more. His second album, 5 Star, was set on an even larger scale and featured Omah Lay, Headie One, Frenna, Patoranking, WSTRN, Bisa Kei, Chance the Rapper, and VIC MENSA. 

He then hit international radars thanks to his 2023 hit single “Terminator,” which surpassed 200 million streams across all platforms. The track’s viral dance challenge played a significant role in its rise to popularity, as the song has been used in over 1 million videos on just TikTok alone.

“I knew it would be a great record from how it took off,” King Promise tells BET. “I've had a few number ones, if not a lot, so I could tell where it was going. But, obviously, it's done a lot of things that all those records didn't do. Obviously, it’s different times like when I dropped ‘Commando’ in 2019. Now, it's like TikTok. ‘Terminator’ just took off crazy. Did I expect it that crazy? I didn't think little. I just allowed my imagination to fly like, ‘let's see how far it gets,’ but I couldn't pinpoint it was gonna get there.”

King Promise admitted that he used to hate TikTok until it played a role in the international elevation of his career. “I love it. I was hating on the app for no reason. It's fun. Like not just for music but for everything. It's very informative and entertaining as well,” he says.

Fast-forward to June 2024, King Promise, who is currently embarking on a world tour, came back with new vibes and an even bigger vision with the release of his latest album, True To Self. The project balances lyrics about his inspirational journey to stardom, struggles, and love life. In May, when he first announced the release date of this album on Instagram, he said that True To Self was his best body of work to date. When asked about the reasoning behind that statement, the 28-year-old says, “When I first came on the scene to where I am right now, it's just been a lot of learning and growing, and I'm at a point where it feels like whatever I've created in the past, this kind of tops it off,” he said. “Also not just in quality, not just in sound, but in writing. I feel like the album tops everything I've done. The plan has always been to improve upon whatever I've done previously, so it's only right that I feel like this is the best I've put out here,” he continues.

King Promise also explains his creative process when he gets in the studio. “Don't overthink it. I feel like when you have fun with it, you put out the magic. When you over-calculate and overthink it, it takes something away from it,” he says. “So that's what I did with True To Self. I just really spoke my truth. Every song on there has like a true something to it. It’s not just where it's being put together, but there's some sort of real-life s**t going on. Not necessarily all of them are my true story, but they are true stories. Either people that are connected with my life.”

Outside of music, King Promise has also used his platform for social change and to support charitable causes throughout his hometown of Ghana by partnering with international companies to provide the needy with different types of food, clothes, technology, and medical support.

“Where I'm from is even a movie for us to even be here today,” he says. “So, if God blesses me, it's only right that I bless the people back. I'd always like to collaborate with a few organizations. Sometimes it’s just me and my team, just to show love back to the end to let them know that I'm one of theirs. So, they shouldn't feel it's too far from them. If could do it, they could do it too apart from just giving them stuff.”

He adds, “I'm Christian. I believe in helping a brother.”