Cam Archer - El Guapo III

If you are familiar with the Inland Empire music scene, chances are you have heard the name Cam Archer. Just in time for the spooky season, Cam's latest project, El Guapo III, fuses breathless flows, witty rhymes, and obscure pop culture references with horror-inspired melodies. When I sat down with Cam to talk about the project, he admitted that despite the first two El Guapo projects dropping in August, he planned on dropping the third installment earlier in the year to align with the release of the movie Scream 5. He describes the project as the "scream mode darker side of the El Guapo brothers." For anyone unfamiliar with the popular cult classic, Scream is about a high school girl and her group of friends who are terrorized by a masked serial killer a year after her mother's death. Just as the director, Wes Craven, managed to re-vitalize and re-invent the horror genre by combining humor, horror, and cleverness, Cam uses El Guapo III to bring new life to the IE music scene by using many of the same properties, setting him apart from his contemporaries. 

Cam has never shied away from using horror references in his music, but this project takes it to a new level, making each song feel like its own short film. Starting with the first track, "TRILOGY," each track makes you feel on edge as though something or someone is lurking around the corner. On the song "FINAL DESTINATION" ft. Christine Ariya, there is a brief moment of respite from those feelings giving the listener glimpses of Cam's vulnerability with lines like "I cannot contain what little residue my father left me, guess I must accept I might die rich, alone, and so unhappy"; however, even the lighter, melodic hook isn’t enough to distance the project from its unsettling themes. El Guapo III shows how rap can be merged with everything from rock to horror without losing the grimy, street elements that Archer's fans have come to expect from his music. The fluidity of the genre plays into the shock factor, enhancing the project. 

Although the subject matter holds no punches when it comes to the disturbing, the scariest thing about this project (and most of Cam Archer's catalog) is his creative process. Give Cam the right beat and he will deliver a high-quality track at that moment without any forethought. There isn't much of a process behind his process and the amount of time spent on each track is so low that it could make even the most seasoned rappers sweat. 

Listeners familiar with Cam's music will recognize several key elements that translate over his projects, especially between the El Guapo trilogy. However, there is no question that this is Cam's most experimental project to date. Multiple times during our listening session, and a couple of times on the same track, I would pause and ask him who the feature is on a specific verse or hook, and to my surprise nearly every time he would tell me that it was him. El Guapo III is Cam Archer embracing the crazy chaos, pushing boundaries, and showing the world his ability to skillfully balance contrasting styles and sounds and why he is a force to be reckoned with and a rapper that you will definitely want to keep an eye on.

El Guapo III is available for preorder here and will releasing on 10/11/2022 on all streaming services. 

 Follow Cam Archer on Instagram and Twitter.

Genre: Hip hop     Label Status: Independent     Reviewed Date: 08/15