kamauu contemplates love and distance on “far rockaway”

This week’s episode of Insecure ended with the hint of the growing rift between messy-but-loveable protagonist Issa and her self-sabotaging and sensitive BFF Molly. As the last scene comes to a close with a close-up shot of the pained look on Molly’s face, soaring strings and an impassioned falsetto comes in to accentuate the drama of the moment: “I go my own way/ You go your own way/ I hope we can make a way/ These kinda things fade away”

That voice belongs to KAMAUU, the multi-talented artist who gave us his eclectic MÍXD GRēēNS mixtape last year, the latest in his KAMAUU-CASSETTE series. The song, “Far Rockway,” produced by KAMAUU and Gabe Niles (Sunny & Gabe) is something like doo-wop meets hip-hop as the throwback melodies of the song come together with the “Paid In Full” drum break to create a sound that’s fun and nostalgic without being hackneyed. KAMAUU describes “Far Rockaway” as “a song about pain, acceptance, letting things go, and distant romance in a time of social distancing”

The Andy Martinez-directed video takes the song’s concept of changing feelings and the ups and downs of a relationship and makes it a literal case of missed connections on an empty New York City subway as KAMAUU connects, disconnects and reconnect with his love interest played by Nio Blu. The overall sentiment of the video is sweet even if the realization that relationships run their course is more bittersweet. Let’s hope Issa and Molly “make a way” too.

The KAMAUU-CASSETTE: MÍXD GRēēNS is available now on all streaming platforms