Emory University isn’t known as a hotbed for music. Many of the students are bookworms focusing on their graduate school plans or attend business school in order to try to take over Corporate America or to become the next major hedge fund manager. Wil May is refreshingly unlike any of his peers. Born in Michigan, May majored in Film Studies though that wasn’t his initial plan.

“If I had known, the culture of Emory beforehand I probably wouldn’t have gone, but it worked out for the best,” May recalls. “I wanted to be either a neurosurgeon or a film director. I came to Emory for the NBB major.  Then once I knew I wasn’t going in that path, I had planned to transfer to USC film school or NYU.  I always drawn to music and chose not to go LA because ATL was booming as far as music goes.”

It was at Emory when he lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house when May realized he wanted to make music. “Music just always something I was into but never did,” May recalls. “Then I started making beats in my dorm, learned piano and then music theory and it began. I was definitely bumpin’ The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and watching weird artsy movies in the Pike house, which was unlike any of the other guys.”

Once word spread of May’s production talents, offers for him to work on projects came in. “One of those people was Scooter Braun, now of Justin Bieber fame,” he says. “He and I got brief jobs at So So Def with Jermaine Dupri doing marketing.  After that gig, I just continued grinding on production until graduation.”

May is not the prototypical Atlanta musician. He combines elements of electronica and Southern hip-hop, which allows for him to stand out from his peers. The music is different than what people would expect from an indie hip-hop artist. “The people here are diverse and are yearning for something different, they just don’t know what yet,” he explains. His fusion of multiple genres makes his music different and refreshingly cool.

Though he’s spent time in New York and Los Angeles, it’s the south where May’s sound fits in well. His beats are anthemic and his lyrics witty and clever. What he takes pride in is that he composes the music himself, which fits well for an indie artist in his genre. “I am a performer, producer and songwriter, but I’ve never been opposed to collaborating,” May says.  “It has just been by chance that I’ve been such a lone warrior.  As I said, I started as a songwriter and producer for other people.  I firmly believe that music is ALWAYS better with other people around, no matter how mix it.”

As 2010 draws to a conclusion, May has big plans for the remainder of the year and for the start of 2011. For starters, he is working with two artists, Rome Fortune and Dee Bender, which he describes as “two young, fun spitters.”  On top of his production and his solo music project slated to be released during the first quarter, expect to hear Wil May’s music in the very near future.