By early morning, before most people reach for coffee, Cameron McCloud opens a notebook and writes a verse.
He’s done this task every day this year.
McCloud, a Dallas-based rapper and co-founder of the hip-hop band Cure for Paranoia, committed in January to releasing a new rap daily. It’s become a living archive of grief, politics, anxiety and resilience that now stretches hundreds of entries long.
“It’s literally just a part of my normal routine,” McCloud said. ”It's an exercise. If you wanna get in shape, you gotta get up and go to the gym every day.”
Cure for Paranoia was born a decade ago after McCloud was diagnosed with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia and found that music offered something medication could not. Writing became his therapy and a way to process experiences that felt otherwise unmanageable. The band, which is made up of McCloud and producers Jay Analog and Tomahawk Jonez, was built around the idea that music could help calm the noise, not just for its creator, but for others, too.
This year’s daily rap project pushed that philosophy to the fullest.
McCloud announced the challenge publicly after the 2024 presidential election. He said the election left him uncertain about the country’s direction and the financial stability of his family.
“Music is and has been my main source of income for the past 10 years,” he said. “I just felt like it's now or never. Like I have to make this work in the event that the economy collapses.”
In 2021, McCloud posted a verse a day on Instagram for 100 days in a series called Keep It 100, which helped expand his audience. This time, he aimed for a full year with the initial modest goal of reaching 10,000 followers.
“I even have a verse in that series. I said, ‘I've just been back a couple months. Imagine what a whole year'll do.’” he said.
This goal had some people worried. Tomahawk Jonez, McCloud’s producer, said he was worried it would be a distraction.
“We needed to work on an album, on our EP or just be able to work in the studio on music to release,” Jonez said. “I really felt like our focus shouldn’t be split between that and putting out new music.”
But by fall, McCloud’s audience had grown to over 350,000 followers on Instagram.
“It was very, very brave and admirable of Cam to even attempt in the first place,” he said. “This got so much more attention than what [we] normally do.”
“We hit all of our goals plus more,” Jonez said. “Hopefully some of these people that are just paying attention to the social media stuff will dive into the more polished art, like the masterpiece instead of these sketches every single day. To retain some of this audience as actual fans would take our career to a whole other level.”
Still, McCloud insists virality was never the point. For most of the year, success meant hitting 100 likes or 1,000 views. Even now, he says he often posts and logs off, resisting the urge to monitor reactions.
“I’ve already proven to myself that I would do it even if no one was watching,” he said. “I'm not super interested in who sees what I'm doing, and I'm not doing it so that people can see me doing it. I think that's what the difference is. That’s why I’ve been able to be so consistent.”
The daily verses draw from whatever sits closest to the surface that day — political outrage, economic fear, joy or exhaustion. Originally, Tomahawk would make the rap with McCloud in his studio, film McCloud for the video, edit and send it to him. Now, McCloud films most verses alone, propping his phone wherever he can, edits and posts it. The hardest part, he joked, is deciding how to make each video feel different from the last. Over time, the project has taken on the cadence of daily news for some listeners, even as McCloud resists framing it that way.
“I rap about what’s going on in my world,” he said. “Because politics and daily news and stuff that isn’t necessarily in everyone’s world.”
The daily verses have drawn intense attention. Listeners have reached out to McCloud with praise thanking him, especially as McCloud’s political commentary sharpened.
Crystal Ardis-Gregory is from the Bay Area. She found Cure for Paranoia in January while scrolling through her TikTok for you page.
“I was so blown away that I actually messaged him and was like, ‘You're up next,’” she said.
Ardis-Gregory, who also lives with bipolar disorder, was inspired by how transparent McCloud is with his mental health challenges.
“Being able to get that out through art and creation to me is a really, really, really big inspiration,” she said. “It gives us something to look forward to. Something to look up to every day.”
Even U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has taken notice. She regularly shares, likes and comments on McCloud’s posts. Crockett invited McCloud to perform a verse at an event announcing her Senate run.
“She let me know, ‘I have not announced this yet, but I will be running for the Senate, and I would love and be honored for you to write your daily verse about that and present it at the event whenever I announce that this is what I'm doing,” McCloud said. “And it was just crazy.”
Even through tragedy, McCloud has not stopped posting.
Halfway through the year, on Day 183, McCloud’s mother texted him to mark the milestone. Later that day, he learned she had suffered a heart attack. He stayed overnight at the hospital and recorded that day’s verse beside her. She died a few days later.
“The whole time I was there at the hospital with her, she was like, ‘Did you do your verse? Did you make sure you wrote your verse?’” he said.
The project soon became a way to keep moving forward and to honor her.
“I genuinely believe that all this change that is happening in my life and in my career is because of her,” he said.
When the year ends, McCloud plans to release a book titled Tomorrow Starts Today, compiling every verse alongside a daily affirmation. He also plans to make the verses available online, preserving what he calls the most transformative year of his life.
McCloud is wrapping the year with more milestones. Cure for Paranoia is releasing its EP on Dec. 22. An album release show, where Crockett will introduce the collective, is on Dec. 26.
As for Day 366, McCloud hasn’t decided.
“When I wake up in the morning,” he said. “I’m gonna decide if I'm gonna do another one or if I'm gonna just play my PS5 all day.”
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
