4mara was born in Cambodia, and adopted from an orphanage in 2001. He then grew up in Boston and started music by playing the cello at the age of four. Soon, 4mara was producing Hip Hop in a collective known as Illegal Advisory. These early production credits got him into New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and caught the ear of Cambodia’s oldest Hip Hop label, KlapYaHandz. In 2022, they released ‘Cypher,’ and 4mara decided to rediscover his roots.

After getting a music degree, 4mara returned to Cambodia to begin a new life. Out of that transformation has come a 10-track album, My Way. The lead single of the same name is a quick Afrobeats-tinged trip into 4mara’s mindset produced, mixed, and mastered by the artist. The video has an AI quality that perfectly aligns with the lyrics about smoking weed and breaking rules.

‘My Way’ and the other songs on the album sample old Cambodian music. 4mara explains, “My approach was to curate a collection of Khmer music samples that spoke to me. Each song is heavily influenced by a chopping of samples that layer within a landscape of Trap-inspired drums and 808s. The project is not strictly genre-oriented as it flows between Trap, R&B, and Afrobeats. My aim was to create something that could be commercially received, yet appreciated for its cultural nods and nuances. Lyrically, my goal wasn’t to tell my whole story, but to reveal pieces of my journey as an artist as I go on my way.”

Check out the video for ‘My Way’ and the full album below.