Will McClean Releases New Album ‘High Ground’
Independent hip-hop artist Will McClean today releases his most compelling and cohesive project to date, High Ground. A full-length collaborative album with local producer T Boogie.
Across ten tracks of soul-soaked jazz-rap and grounded lyricism, McClean unpacks the high stakes of vulnerability, moments of anxiety, and the clarity that comes from stepping back. Written in the aftermath of time spent overseas, High Ground is a reflection on what happens when perspective widens – and how love, distance, and purpose can collide in unexpected ways.
“I left home chasing memories and found myself in the process” says McClean. “I met someone who changed my life, and saw other things that changed me too. And then I had to sit with what that all meant. This album is about learning how to hold the good and the hard things at the same time – and trying to stay grounded through all of it.”
From the passionate opener Ignite to the reflective love story On This Hill (featuring JClean), High Ground charts McClean’s emotional and artistic growth. The album reunites him with longtime collaborator T Boogie – the two first met while working side-by-side at a pizza shop in Porirua. What started as busy shifts, rapping and talking music, turned into a creative partnership built on trust, craft, and a shared love of soulful beats.
High Ground follows recent singles We Gon’ Make It and Heal Me, both of which set the tone for the album’s central themes of resilience, vulnerability, and love in motion.
With a growing loyal fanbase in New Zealand and overseas, McClean’s commitment to soul, craft, and realness continues to set him apart – and High Ground is the clearest expression yet of his artistic mission.
