Cam Wallace is here to step out from behind-the-scenes and prove himself as a recording artist in his own right.
Hailing from Houston, the producer, singer, and songwriter was heavily influenced by DJ Screw and the screwed up movement, but that doesn’t limit his sound or genre in any way, shape, or form.
In describing himself, he states, “Cam Wallace is a creative for sure, all things music. I call myself the music man, I love all things music. I’m one of the guys in this business literally for music. All the other stuff is extra. The music is what really captures me and pulls me in. I love art, I’m an artistic creative. That’s really me.”
His all-star resume includes writing for the likes of Chris Brown, LeCrae, and Slim Thug, and producing Beyonce’s smash hit “Upgrade U” alongside Sevyn and Omarion.
Now, he steps into the limelight as Cam Wallace the artist, inking a deal with the legendary Motown Records. In addition to his most recent release, the “We Made It“ visual, Cam runs his own creative house company called Massive Sound — which he hopes to sign artists and producers down the line.
AllHipHop: How would you describe your sound?
Cam Wallace:.My sound is a little bit of everything. I love jazz music, I love soul music, I love trap music, I love ratchet music. My sound is everything I grew up listening to rolled into one. It’s a lot of nostalgia, but done in a modern way. It’s very up-to-date, just cool music. Different vibes for different moments.
AllHipHop: Talk about your roots in Houston and DJ Screw’s influence.
Cam Wallace:.Man, I’m from the Northside of Houston. A lot of what people know about Houston as far as mainstream is more on the Southside. Growing up here, we were surrounded by DJ Screw, the screwed up taste. I was more Swishahouse, DJ Michael 5000 Watts guy. Being from the Northside, that was really our person. DJ screw was more so the Southside, but he’s the originator of screwed up music. I was the kid that definitely listened to Texas music, but I always branched out. My ear was going beyond my hometown. I’m definitely influenced by all the legends here, literally all of them.
AllHipHop: At what point did you realize you wanted to try your hand in the music business?
Cam Wallace:.I’ve always wanted to do music. Even when I was a kid, my mom said she always knew I’d be the one that left the city, branched out and tried to achieve my goals. Professionally, my first placement was in 2006. That’s my first entry on a professional level in the music business. I’ve been doing music my whole life literally. Anyone who knows me from back in the day, they associate me with music. Music was my thing, even what made me popular in school. I didn’t play sports, I was the guy everybody came to for musical purposes.
AllHipHop: How was it producing Beyonce’s “Upgrade U” back in 2006?
Cam Wallace:.It’s so funny to say I was about to quit, because I’d been doing music for so long. Even back, I got to a point where “man this s### isn’t working, I don’t know what’s going on.” I had a friend of the family who’s an entertainment attorney named Kim Hadder. She met up with me at Greenspoint Mall out here. She said “meet up with me, don’t quit. Bring a CD with 20 beats on there, I’ll see what I can do. See how I can help you.”
She knew Matthew Knowles, Beyonce’s dad, and some people in the music world. That’s how “Upgrade U” really came about. I wasn’t thinking anything of it: “whatever, I don’t know what she’s going to do with it.” Literally a month later, she calls me: “yo, Beyoncé did 2 of your songs.” From there, “Upgrade U” was a door opener for me. A stepping stool because it’s how I was able to work and produce with so many other artists, from Sevyn Streeter and Chris Brown to LeCrae and Omarion. It would’ve taken me longer to get to these people if it wasn’t for “Upgrade U.”
AllHipHop: Best advice Ty Dolla $ign gave you?
Cam Wallace:.To be me, honestly. Have fun with it and never take yourself too seriously. Tap in, try to have fun and apply real life situations to your music. Even sitting back and watching how he works, he records himself. Really watching his whole process, even if he didn’t know he was teaching me, he was teaching me. Being able to watch him do his thing, he’s just a great person. He’s honestly one of the people I look up to in this industry: not just for music, but as a person.
AllHipHop: How is it transitioning into your own artistry?
Cam Wallace:.It’s crazy because I always wanted to be an artist. I started off as an artist, so I was making beats for me. Back in high school, I was always that guy. I was the dude passing out mixtapes, rapping on them. The production came secondary. Once I got a placement and realized “oh, I can get paid this much to do this?” Alright, let me do this real quick and build my name up. Get it to a point where I can transition.” It’s been pretty cool.
The cool part about it is that I got to work as a producer with so many artists, seeing how they move, now I’m in that position being in the forefront. Being the artist, now I’m getting beats from other producers. I switched roles which is dope because I have a front row seat by being a producer, seeing how artists move in general. I took all of the things I seen Sevyn do, Ty Dolla $ign do, LeCrae, I seen how they move. It has its moments, I’m still learning. Especially being signed to a major label, it’s a huge transition I’m literally in the middle of. You’re catching me in the very beginning, but i love It. It’s been very good and graceful, to be honest.
AllHipHop: What inspired your “6RINGS EP?” I know it’s essentially a self-directed pep talk, we all need that!
Cam Wallace:.That’s the perfect way to put it. It feels good to get all of the songs off of my computer. I have so many records, I’m excited. 6RINGS was literally the first installment. I have so many more EPs and tons of music I’m dropping. Anytime I can get music out there to the people., it’s great. It’s constantly showing the growth, I have so much stuff coming. 6RINGS is a starter pack to warm people up and get them ready.
I took inspiration from Michael Jordan and having that champion mentality, he had 6 rings. If you listen to the songs, everything’s really motivational. It’s really true to me. I want to be able to inspire other creatives, really anybody but specifically creatives to keep pushing. I want to give people music to live to, workout to, and get activated to. That’s me. As you can see, I’m literally about to go run after this. Everything I do is all about emotion and being in movement.
AllHipHop: How was it shooting the video for “We Made It?
Cam Wallace:.It was super dope. It was hot, [laughs] we shot it in LA. We’re literally on top of a mountain for a lot of the shots. I happened to have a hoodie on that day so it was super hot, but it was really fun. A super dope experience. The director Jay Mars, that’s my guy. Look out for more stuff from me and him. I’m building with him. It was great, I can’t wait to shoot more videos and get better. I’m trying to grow my relationship with the camera. It’s a process, those are the little things. The music part isn’t the issue for me, it’s the all other stuff around it. I’m learning as I go.
AllHipHop: How does it feel to sign to Motown?
Cam Wallace:.Amazing, a dream come true. Right now we’re in this space where a lot of artists are talking ownership, independence, it’s the whole independence versus label thing. I grew up always wanting to be signed to a label. I came up in that Roc-A-Fella era, Def Jam, Interscope, you really knew what label these artists were signed. I always hung onto that. I didn’t know it was going to be Motown, but I’m so glad it is because it’s so legendary. The lineage behind that, so many greats. For me now to be a part of the Motown family, it’s crazy. It’s still surreal, I’m taking It all in. It’s dope.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio?
Cam Wallace:.Honestly, I’m not even that picky. I record myself and do everything at the crib. Candles because I like to set the vibe and mood, definitely some fruit, and great headphones. I go to a lot of studios and headphones be trash. I bring my own headphones. When I do hit a studio and I forgot mine, if they have a great pair of Beats headphones, I don’t like recording off anything but those headphones.
Good equipment, the regular stuff. I’m not picky. I don’t need is a lot of people. I don’t like a lot of people in the studio, don’t need all that extra. It’s not a party in the studio with me because I’m really trying to tap in. I’m really in there creating. I’m doing everything from producing the beat, writing the song, to recording myself and mixing myself, it’s such a process that once I get going, I’m locked in. I need space and opportunity to do what I do.
AllHipHop: Talk about your own creative house company called Massive Sound.
Cam Wallace:.Where I want to take Massive Sound is I eventually want to sign artists and be a safe haven for creatives. The reason I named it Massive Sound is because ever since I was young, I always had a big imagination. I always saw bigger. Some people are cool with your hometown and your comfort zone, but I always thought big because it pushes me. Sometimes too big.
It’s still building but it’s eventually going to be a label: sign artist and producers. I want to sign more than music people, I want to sign photographers and videographers. I really want it to be a creative safe haven to the point where if other artists need visuals, they gotta come talk to my people because we have all of the ill videographers and camera guys. I almost want it to be a university, to be honest. I want to sign artists, you do your 4-year plan, freshman year sophomore year junior year. By the time you’re a senior, you should be big enough to branch out and do your own thing. I’m not trying to hold anybody. I want to be that place where artists can come, grow, develop, then go do their own thing.
AllHipHop: Who do you want to work with?
Cam Wallace:.I want to work with Snoop Dogg. Snoop’s so dope. I made this Snoop Dogg playlist I’ve been riding around to for a month. What’s crazy is I’ve made other Snoop playlists in the past, this dude has so many cool records. I want to work with Pharrell. I honestly want to work with the Neptunes, it’ll be dope to work with Chad and Pharrell. Brandy, her vocals. What she does vocally is amazing. I want to work with a lot of the young new artists. I love Playboi Carti, he’s fire. Tyler The Creator, Frank Ocean, the real artsy guys. The guys who keep it focused on the craft. We’ll throw Kanye in there.
AllHipHop: What do you like to do for fun?
Cam Wallace:.Honestly, I love running. I create while I run. From me being emotional, it helps me shift through my thoughts. I write a lot of songs while I’m running and hiking. I’m really learning more and more about myself. I’m an outdoors type of guy, that’s a part of my brand. I want to make music for the early birds. The ones who get up extra early, who’s going to put the extra work in. The routine guys, the ones who get up at 5:30am so that by 2pm, they can do whatever they want. They’ve already tackled all the stuff.
I love to shop. I’m always shopping. I love fashion, that’s another passion of mine. Film as well, I’m a big sitcom guy. I eventually want to branch off into writing sitcoms and episodes. I’d love to be a writer, there’s so many things I want to do. Music’s the catalyst, it’s my main passion. It’s going to be the main thing that branches me off into all these other arenas and areas I want to step into.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
Cam Wallace:.Be on the lookout for more music, more vibes, more heat coming from me. Everybody can follow me on all of my socials.
