King Promise Chelsea anthem: what we know about “Can’t Tame Us” and the Nungua film
King Promise has teamed up with Chelsea on a new song, “Can’t Tame Us (Chelsea Anthem)”, released with a short documentary about the club’s fans in Africa. The King Promise Chelsea collaboration was announced on 8 October. The Ghanaian singer is a lifelong Chelsea fan, and Billboard UK reports that the song will be played at the club’s matches this season. Here is what the deal involves and why it matters for African music.
By Editorial Team
What we know
- The song (FACT). “Can’t Tame Us (Chelsea Anthem)” is out now. Billboard describes it as a “love letter” to the London club and to its fans across Africa.
- Matchday play (REPORTED). According to Billboard UK, the song will be part of the playlist at Chelsea fixtures throughout the season.
- The campaign (FACT). The release is part of the club’s “London to the World” campaign, which Chelsea says celebrates “the communities that make up the club’s global family”.
- The video (FACT). Derrick Arthur directed the music video. It was filmed in Accra, at King Promise’s Rent Paid Football Tournament and at Nungua SDA Park, where Chelsea showed its new home kit in Africa for the first time.
- The documentary (FACT). The short film was shot at Stamford Bridge and at pitches, schools and parks in Nungua, the Accra district where King Promise grew up.
Why the King Promise Chelsea link makes sense
The partnership is personal for him. King Promise told Billboard UK that his love of Chelsea goes back to the early 2000s in Accra, when the club was rising under the manager José Mourinho and the owner Roman Abramovich.
The player who sealed it was Michael Essien, the Ghanaian midfielder who joined Chelsea from Lyon in 2005. “I stamped it on my chest that I’ll forever be a Chelsea fan,” King Promise told the magazine. He also said he once dreamed of playing for Ghana at the World Cup. “Back home in Nungua, football was all we knew,” he said.
That gives the song more credibility than a typical brand deal. He is a fan the club has signed up, not a celebrity the club has brought in.
Why clubs want African artists
Premier League clubs know that a large share of their fans live outside the UK, and West Africa is one of their most loyal markets. Chelsea’s documentary is about exactly that: the club’s relationship with supporters on the continent.
Music has become one of the main ways clubs reach those fans. Afrobeats and highlife are already played in stadiums, gyms and dressing rooms, and an official club song by an African star turns that into a formal partnership. For readers who are new to the genres, our guide to Afrobeats, Afrobeat, Afropop and amapiano explains the differences. King Promise sits between highlife and Afrobeats.
This is also another sign of African artists moving into big sports events. On Sunday, Ayra Starr headlines halftime at the NFL game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a few miles from Stamford Bridge, as we report in our guide to her London show. Later this month Burna Boy plays the NFL Paris game, as covered in our story on his October dates.
Who is King Promise?
King Promise, whose real name is Gregory Bortey Newman, is one of Ghana’s best-known singers. He signed with Sony Music UK in London about five years ago and has lived in the city since then, Billboard notes.
He has released three studio albums. This year he also released See What We’ve Done, a joint album with the Nigerian artist and producer Mr Eazi. His 2023 single “Terminator” was one of the biggest West African hits of that year, and it is the song many new listeners will know him from.
He has also tied his music to community work. The Rent Paid tournament, which appears in the video, raises money for local charities, including the Nungua Orphanage, which supports children under 16, Billboard reports.
What he said about the song
In his interview with Billboard UK, King Promise called the partnership a “perfect combination” of his two worlds. He said it is “a beautiful full-circle moment” to work with the club.
“This collaboration for me represents every kid in Ghana, every kid across Africa,” he said. “If I could start from Nungua and stand on the pitch at Stamford Bridge and have my music play in the stadium, just know that anything is possible.”
What we do not know yet
Chelsea has not published streaming figures for the song, and there is no confirmed date for a live performance at Stamford Bridge. Neither the club nor the artist has said whether the partnership includes more releases or appearances. We have not seen the terms of the deal, so we will not guess at its value.
What happens next
- Look out for the song at Chelsea’s home matches, where Billboard reports it will be played this season.
- We will report the first chart and streaming data once it is available. Our explainer on how Spotify royalties work explains what streams are worth to artists.
- We will update this story if Chelsea or King Promise announces a matchday performance.
More music news: Music.
Photo credits: Featured image: Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home ground, 2023. Photo: Arne Müseler, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 de). Source. In-article image: Stamford Bridge seen from the Shed End. Photo: Neil Theasby, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Source.
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