Interview: Cam Meekins Talks Independent Success & His Love For Atmosphere

The independent spitter is making moves.

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Complex Original

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To those unfamiliar, Cam Meekins may seem like just another fish in an already crowded pond. But Meekins is quickly separating himself from the flock of new rappers that seem to pop up every four blog posts. He started making beats in 6th grade and has always taken a DIY approach to rap. His approach is paying off: His new album Lamp City debuted at #3 on the iTunes hip-hop charts, not bad for an independent artist.

Taking the independent route to fame is becoming increasingly popular and appears to be more possible now than ever. The traditional methods of pushing records have been replaced by Facebook shares & Twitter hashtags. And Cam has capitalized on the frenzy of social networking and put his fans in the driver's seat. We got on the horn with the Boston spitter (and brother of famous figure skater Drew Meekins) to discover why he only writes to his own beats, his fellow independent influences, and the surprise of his album reaching #3 on the iTunes charts...

Interview by Tyler Keyes (@TylerKeyes)

Off the bat, for those who don’t already know, who is Cam Meekins?
I’m an artist out of Boston. A producer and a rapper. Been doing it for about three or four years. I’m 20-years-old. I just dropped my first official album, Lamp City. Been doing a bunch of mixtapes, slowly building a fan base.

Lamp City hit No. 3 on the iTunes hip-hop album charts. How were you able to achieve that?
It’s really exciting to me because honestly up until this phone call right now, I’ve never really had any type of co-signs, or any blogs [supporting me], or anything like that. It’s me believing in my fans and them spreading it to their friends through word of mouth. That’s something that’s special to me and I owe them a lot of respect for everything that I've been able to achieve through iTunes this week.

I’ve been trying to stay as consistent as possible releasing music and staying close to the fans via Twitter. That’s all we’ve been doing is making videos for the fans that are there, in hopes that that will grow.

One of my biggest inspirations is Atmosphere. Lyrically, I love what Slug does. But production-wise I’m also a huge Atmosphere fan. You can definitely hear that in some of my songs.

Were you surprised when you started to see the album start to climb higher and higher?
What's crazy is I was just chilling with my girlfriend watching The Office. It was No. 15, then 11, and within a couple minutes it got to the Top 10 and I was like, “What the fuck?” All I wanted from the jump was to be able to run it through fans and not through some political label shit. I wanted the fans to be in control of the content so we can keep it as real as possible.

Did you first get into rapping or producing?
Producing. I play pretty much every instrument. I learned guitar when I was really young. Started fucking around on the computer making beats in middle school. I loved being in the studio and I knew my life was gonna be in one—whether its engineering or producing—because that’s what I was focused on at that point.

Then my buddy Joel was like, “Yo get on this track.” It was just this stupid track we were doing for fun. I spit this 12 bar verse and everybody was like, “That shit was dope!” I was like that was kinda fun being behind the mic.

Is it more natural to rap over a beat you made yourself?
I can't really fuck with someone else’s beat. When someone sends me a beat I can probably make a hot song, I’ve done that before. But it’s not as genuine. My music is so personal, I come across so vulnerable.

I don't like going in on other people’s beats when I can't go in and change the drums or whatever. I don't feel comfortable writing to it. The way I like to work is to build the skeleton of the beat and track it by myself. Then go and meet up with other people afterwards to make it professional sounding. I do everything on my own before I let anyone hear it.

Macklemore is one of these new dudes who really took it to the next level, understanding there is a right way to be in the industry. I’m not anti-label and I’m not pro-independent necessarily, I don't think Macklemore is either. He understands that it’s kind of political in a way.

Who are you influences and inspirations?
Even on the business side of things, one of my biggest inspirations is Atmosphere. Lyrically, I love what Slug does. But production-wise I’m also a huge Atmosphere fan. You can definitely hear that in some of my songs. I really fuck with anybody that’s just making a decision and sticking with it. Making music that’s true to themselves, that's what I’m trying to do.

Some of these current independent artists out there have a similar fan demographic as yourself. Do you use them as a blueprint for the way that things should be done, like Macklemore for example?
Yeah, I look to all those cats to get more of an understanding of what I can accomplish and smart [ways to do] marketing. Macklemore is one of these new dudes who really took it to the next level, understanding there is a right way to be in the industry. I’m not anti-label and I’m not pro-independent necessarily, I don't think Macklemore is either. He understands that it’s kind of political in a way.

You've just gotta know how to play your cards right and really get your agenda across. My agenda is being able to control my content, produce my own music, be successful, and reach a lot of people like a mainstream artist would. And then to be able to bring other artists along with me and run a record label.

What do you have in mind for the future? Do you have some tour dates on the horizon?
Yeah, we’re trying to find a tour for me to hop on this summer. Right now I have a bunch of little dates lined up. I’m going to Toronto this weekend for a show. Then I’m going to Los Angeles next weekend to start working on some new music and take some meetings.

I’ll be shooting more videos and trying to keep the fan base involved and keep everything moving. Its all about momentum. We’ve been really lucky with this opportunity to release this album. We’re ready to go, we just need to figure out what all of the next steps are, but we’re getting there.

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