By Eric Vallen
Aaron May—the musical prodigy who has mastered the usage of touching lyrics, melodic beats, and masterful storytelling. Since his childhood, May has held a burning passion for music, specifically soulful, relaxed rap. In sixth grade the musician began writing poems and producing beats out of pure passion, inspired by legends such as Lil Wayne and Nas. Growing up, May developed those poems and beats into freestyles and full blown EPs.
He released his first single “Ride” in November of 2018, featuring a J-Cole esque beat, and tone alike to Kendrick Lamar. “Ride” was an immediate hit considering May’s novice status in the rap game, garnering 2 million plays in as little as 3 months. The following year, May released his first, and so far, only album, Chase. Through its release, May found his sound: laid back beats with serious lyrics. May speaks of closure through his hit song “Let Go,” while reminiscing on a past relationship through both “In Love” and “I’m Good Luv, Enjoy.” To many, “Let Go” holds the podium as Aaron May’s best song to date, and justifiably so. The song begins with an obscure yet powerful sample from prominent 60s artist Loretta Lynn’s song, “Wound Time Can’t Erase,” followed by a monologue from May. The storytelling perfectly parallels the music in the song, and as such, has received over 60 million streams in the past two years.
While three months passed between the release of his debut song “Ride” and album Chase, fame began to affect May’s view on life in early 2019. Unfortunately, the effects were far worse than meets the eye, and May took a step back from the music scene for the rest of 2019. After releasing a three song mini-album in October, months later, the artist claimed the songs were pre-recorded from 2018. Since 2019, May has sporadically released singles, one of which was a massive hit in collaboration with video game giant 2K Studios. However, in light of success, the three most recent of May’s singles have flopped. Failure led to another disappearance from May, and for much of 2021 radio silence filled the room. After no social media posts in nearly a year, a surprise album teaser released this past June, but in the end remained a fluke. As of now, Aaron May has again vanished from social media, leaving fans to only hope that he has something in the works. In 2019, circumstances appeared as if May would rise to the top of Houston’s rap scene, however, his mind failed him and his career plummeted. One can now only pray to someday see a return from Houston’s budding star, as it would truly be a shame if his storytelling and musical capabilities were put to waste.