Solomons Island, MD – Twenty-year-old Calvert County native Billy Chambers has loved music his entire life. His early musical influences–Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Blink-182, and Lauryn Hill–represent an eclectic mix, foreboding the kind of genre-defying music Chambers would ultimately create.
Chambers’ rap career unknowingly started eight years ago with just himself–and a piano. As a 12-year old, Chambers wrote songs on the piano and performed them for his musically-inclined sister and her friends. His sparse yet enthusiastic audience greeted Chambers’ performances with friendly smiles and words of encouragement. This positive reinforcement left an indelible mark on Chambers, whose musical interests continued to expand and evolve.
As a 13-year old, Chambers began listening to hip-hop music for the first time. He became captivated by the “genre-blending sounds” and the poem-like rhyming of words. From that point forward, Chambers set out to create his own genre-blending sound.
At age 14, Chambers purchased his first microphone, which would be considered anachronistic by today’s standards. He recorded demos in his family computer room and soon became thoroughly enveloped in his passion for music.
Before long, Chambers was writing, recording, and mixing all day long – even during school hours. For one of his first mixtapes, 3 AM, Chambers was intrepid in his quest for the perfect verse, doing well over 100 takes to find the right sound. After finally finding the right combination of lyrics and flow, Chambers selected the optimal verse, and felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction knowing his painstaking attention to detail paid off. From that point forward, he couldn’t picture himself doing anything but rap music as a career.
Over the course of his high school career, Chambers grew frustrated with the mundane routine of school and craved more time to focus on his passion. This provided the impetus for Chambers to be home-schooled his final two years of high school. Free from the constraints of rigid hours and the traditional class setting, Chambers thrived, and made considerable progress with his music.
After dutifully graduating from Patuxent High School in 2014, Chambers linked up with a manager who provided the de facto launching pad for Chambers’ music career. Chambers first dropped his wildly successful “Going Crazy” EP, and his bouncy single “Gold,” both of which were met with critical acclaim by fans and pundits alike. Chambers also performed shows with a variety of esteemed MCs, including Huey Mack, Skizzy Mars and Caskey.
Soon thereafter, Chambers released a couple tracks, “Don’t Blink” and “Got Me,” which each have netted over 30,000 listens to date. His newfangled popularity, he believes, was driven by authentic lyrics and a jazzy, fun style of music.
With his star brightening and hip-hop blogs buzzing about this curly-haired wunderkind from Southern Maryland, Chambers decided it was time to work on his first studio album, “Electric Love.” The project took months of scrupulous vetting and mixing and mastering, but this nine-track masterpiece was finally released two months ago.
The message of “Electric Love” centers around the theme of love, that ubiquitous, powerful feeling that all humans long for. The love Chambers refers to is an all-encompassing definition, including love in interpersonal relationships, loving the world around us, and loving what you do. In a world sullied by strife across racial, ethnic, religious, and ideological lines, Chambers’ refreshing message could not come at a more appropriate time.
“All this division (in the world) just breaks my heart,” Chambers says. “We need to get back to unifying, loving each other, and celebrating the positive aspects in life. I just want to show people that it’s okay to step out of the grain and do something different with life. That’s what this album is all about.”
Fun yet serious, lyrical yet easy to understand, upbeat but deeply introspective, “Electric Love” coalesces into a musical masterpiece. It’s an easy listen from start to finish due to the professional production and Chambers’ skills as both a rapper and a crooner.
In just a few years, Chambers has transformed a hobby into a booming career, a fanciful whim into reality. He’s become well-known throughout a bevy of hip-hop blogs – including The Source, which featured his hit song, “Breakdown” – as a virtuoso and a musical innovator. In the upcoming months, he plans to move to Chicago, Illinois in order to take the next step in his musical career. Judging by the other steps he has taken, this one is sure to be yet another successful venture. Be sure to check out “Electric Love” below!
Follow Billy on Twitter @BillyCh4mbers!
WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS CONTAINED HEREIN. LISTENERS SHOULD BE 18+