Photo via Instagram / Cam Will
There’s no confusion on rapper Cam Will’s motives with his new EP, Separation Summer. At the end of opening track “100 Of These (Too Young),” he takes the time to declare that he will be making his presence felt within Milwaukee music and beyond. Much like an actor breaking the forbidden fourth wall, it’s a meta moment that establishes a connection between artist and listener. In hip hop, getting a listener’s ear is everything, but keeping their attention is harder, and he manages to do so on the seven-track release.
Without that moment of transparency, however, Will would likely be able to lock plenty of people in as fans, showcasing his versatility on his first formal project. While the opener has plenty of motivated verses about working hard, that atmosphere immediately changes on the next track, the summer-focused “All Day.” Within the course of the EP, Cam Will talks about everything from achieving goals and making money to attracting a significant other and keeping her. Nothing feels stagnant on the project, which speaks volumes in an era of hip hop when being able to copy and paste themes from one track to the next is not only accepted but embraced as the formula to succeed. It’s a move wise beyond the years of a newer artist.
“Officially, taking rap seriously, it’s been about a year and a half to two years since I left school” explains Will. “I put my first song out in my sophomore year of high school, but I just did that because one of my uncles had a microphone in his basement. Since then I’ve been actually taking it serious.”
For much of that time, the world has been largely confined to the house. Part of what makes Separation Summer so impactful is that the tracks chosen for the release are just a few of the many that Cam Will created over the course of the pandemic. Taking the time to focus on writing was key to the project’s strong presence.
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“Creatively, it’s kind of a blessing in disguise. It sucks what we’re going through, but I was able to stay in the studio and stay in my room and write more than I ever did in my life” said Will. “Over the first quarantine period, I made something like 45 songs. I’ve never made that many songs without putting anything out. I’m real indecisive, so sometimes I’d go in and recut a song over and over because I had time, but I would overall say that the pandemic helped me grow my pen.”
Prior to Separation Season, Will released one of his first visuals with the clip for “Vibes,” a swagger-filled track that set the tone for the album’s release. Now armed with a plethora of music from this project’s recording sessions, there won’t be a need to wait for new material.
“I think the gap between this project and ‘Vibes’ was about four months” explains Will. “I don’t plan on taking that much of a break from releasing for at least the next two years. It’s going to be continuous music for as long as I can before we feel that we have enough of an audience to put out a full album.”
You can check out Separation Summer on all platforms right now.
