Sammy Adams Debuts New Album Title, Shares Story Behind ‘OK Cool’ Pre-Album

Boston-based rapper Sammy Adams is much more complex than he seems upon first glance. There is a surprising sensitivity lurking behind his party boy persona, baggy jeans and knuckle tattoos.

From previous interviews, Adams sounds like a frat boy trying to get laid and get paid for rapping about it. However, in his sit-down with The BoomBox, he reveals that his goals for music reach beyond the trappings of fame.

His first full-length album, which will debut via RCA this fall, is titled I Wish, and the effort is set to feature an emotional song of the same name.

"There's a track called 'I Wish' on the album, produced by Bei Major, and it was the first time I ever locked our whole team out of the studio," the 25-year-old admits. "I got a beat from Bei and there's something about it that was just very personal for me.

"I wrote the whole song about what people call me, or what people look at me as. And the chorus is just, 'I wish, I wish, I wish I was.' So it's a very introspective, personal track."

This introspection contrasts with the party-centric video for "All Night Longer," a track featured on his "pre-album," OK Cool. There is certainly something about this young rapper, whose debut EP, Boston Boy, released in 2010, rose so high in iTunes digital sales that it passed both projects by DJ Khaled and Lil Wayne.

Adams' early success won him a deal with RCA that includes his own imprint on the label under the seemingly innocuous phrase "OK Cool." He recently dropped the pre-album to help promote his upcoming LP. The story behind the phrase comes from a trip to Paris and a desire to have a universal appeal.

"OK Cool is actually a cool story," he admits. "We were in Paris working on a project with DJ White Shadow and DJ Snake, and everywhere we went we didn't know where we were in Paris... but everyone was so nice to us. After they gave us directions, we'd be like 'Merci, thank you so much' and they'd be like 'OK cool.'

"After that, you sort of pay attention to 'OK cool' and you notice how many people say it every day. It's sort of like in the '70s people saying, 'I dig it,' or 'Yeah, I feel that.' It's like 'OK cool;' it's very universal."

With OK Cool out for mass consumption, Sammy Adams is focused on I Wish, for which he worked closely with Pharrell Williams, in addition to GOB and several other producers. The LP reflects his coming to terms with what a career in music actually means.

"It explains my journey from high school to college to sort of getting this feeling of potential stardom and potential fame," Adams shares.

Look for I Wish in the coming months and his tour with the electro pop duo 3OH!3.

Filed Under: Sammy Adams