On March 3, Cure for Paranoia frontman Cameron McCloud stepped onstage at the Subterranean in Chicago and immediately shared his excitement about it being the first time playing in Chicago. The intimate venue was a great place to take in his rhymes and feel inspired by the artist’s stories as the group kicked off their tour.
From rapping the entire tracklist of their new EP, to having eloquent conversations with the audience, McCloud shared his story and thoughts during a show filled with dancing, heart to hearts and laughter.
One of the things that stood out early into the set was McCloud’s encouragement for everyone to relax and have a good time, instead of worrying about what others might think. He pointed out that most artists try to get you to like them, but at this show, it was different.
“The main reason I do this is so everyone I come in contact with feels ten times more confident than before I got on stage,” McCloud told the audience. “My job is to make sure you like yourselves.”
McCloud shared that he chose the name Cure for Paranoia because he ultimately found making music to be the best way for him to cope with his diagnoses of bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.
In the past year, he went viral posting a new rap daily about the state of the U.S. In a moment of vulnerability, he shared that halfway through the year, he unexpectedly lost his mom following a heart attack. He shared how rough it was to lose that important support, but also focused how much she would want him to continue kept him going. So that’s just what he did. The fame that followed showed she was watching over him. McCloud sees her as his superhero.
The set, which played through all seven tracks from the group’s new LP Work of A.R.T., kicked off with the lively “No Brainer,” which was the first song for the group’s NPR Tiny Desk audition.
“This is America, this is embarrassing,” a few people from the crowd shouted, which led McCloud into the mic-dropping performance of “Simmer Down,” an anti-hate anthem that suggests putting the U.S. in rice and restarting it, and concludes with the line “fly as a Black pilot and yes I’m qualified.”
“I already gone crazy, I would really like to go rich,” He laughed into his final track “World War III.”
