Between his Oakland, California upbringing to his background in Atlanta, Georgia, Hakeem Prime is at home with the music scene. His pride in his musical creations and where he comes from is evident. Beginning his career as ‘Hyphy Da Spider,’ a nod to his Oakland upbringing, he was proud of the representation he offered his city but wished to establish himself under an even more personal name: Hakeem Prime includes his own name, plus “prime” as a reference to his passion for the DC universe. He is dedicated to embracing his personal experiences through his music in hopes of inspiring others from his community to do the same. He plans to continue to draw from the soulful foundation of Atlanta and his illuminating childhood experience in a choir to create fan-favorite tracks. The Prime formula is clearly working: he became a member of Datpiff in 2012 and, following a hand full of mixtapes he dropped his first EP Signs, then released the hit single “Slip Up,” which garnered 1.9 million views in 2019. Prime’s current mission is to chase his inner peace, a venture that he showcases with his newest creation, “Imma Let You Go.”
Self-awareness and self-love can be difficult to acquire when one is more attentive to another person or relationship than to themself. “Imma Let You Go” exhibits this fact and how it can be detrimental to a couple’s bond. Prime encountered this situation in his own life, as he faced a major hardship and found that the one he loved was not there for him. This heartbreak led Prime to prioritize himself over anyone else. He realizes that there will be people in his life who advocate for him in his self-love journey rather than tie him to negativity. He encourages his audience to “feel self-love, have peace within themselves before trying to have peace and love for someone else” – a sentiment that recurs in another recent single, “Love Rants,” off his upcoming album Detour Two.
Prime directed the visual for this new rap/R&B track to portray the self-love that can be found after heartache. For him, that translates to not feeling tied down in a relationship, feeling free to love and surround himself with people that return the same well-deserved energy. He has successfully created a visual that embodies the “bossing up” after the breakup.
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