Jordan Mackampa - Proud Of You (Single)
Photo credit: @aidenhw
London soul star Jordan Mackampa returns with the news of a new album titled Welcome Home, Kid! out 16 February 2024 via AWAL. This announcement comes with the release of single “Proud Of You”, the first introduction to this masterful new body of work and this new era for Jordan.
On the soulful “Proud Of You", Mackampa has a long overdue conversation with his inner child that tells his story at every age in his life and how proud he is of their growth, backdropped by a piano-led production embellished with stunning strings and joyous sounds of brass. He adds, “We go through life ageing without realising that even at 28, 29, 35, 41, we are still all the years before that. Some of my most life-changing events happened to me at times when I was too young to comprehend what was going on, and then again when my sense of self in my teen years was fully conscious of situations. All whilst my inner child was still there not getting the support it needed because I hadn't healed any old wounds, and was watching its oldest self suffer too.”
This new music sees Jordan come back to his love of R&B, soul, funk and gospel with references to Dru Hill and Blackstreet, producing a new sound that nods to his earlier soundcloud works and the nostalgia of his childhood. It's brazen and bold and presents an incredibly assured artist that is no longer afraid to show off their Blackness, queerness, or sexual expression in all their forms. Getting to this place has taken Jordan decades of growth, patience & gruelling lessons to reach this state and now he can stand in his Blackness proudly. This album tells the story of how he got to this place of self-worth and the stories of the varying complex but beautiful perspectives about the Black experience. He is open and honest about sex, intimacy, imposter syndrome and how he navigates healthy love, toxic heartbreak, friendships and forgiveness. The core theme of this record is introspection with Jordan explaining, “This was a big theme for me in writing a lot of these songs because no one else has lived life in my shoes, I really had to take other peoples’ opinions & stories out of the writing and put myself at the forefront of everything. Which in turn, made me put the guitar down more and stand centre stage naked in a way. This new album for me feels even more personal now - I use more self language of “I” over “we” because all of these stories are about me and my life in even more depth than the first record touched upon, whilst covering more bases either through my own first person story telling of something current I’m dealing with or a past situation I’m using music to heal through. The debut was me figuring out shit, this album is me putting the last puzzle piece on the board.”