Exclusive Aaron Camper Interview

Recently I sat down with singer Aaron Camper when he was in Baltimore to perform at Select Lounge. He talked about his mixtape, going toe to toe with Guy Torry and touring with Chris Brown. Check out this video and then read the interview. Click Here to download his mixtape Welcome To My World.

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Chanel Laren: You started out singing  with gospel singer Tye Tribett & G.A. What made you go the solo route and pursue secular music?

Aaron Camper: I didn't... it chose me. Everybody knows I started with Tye and then from there it just went a different direction. He had a different direction he wanted to go in, therefore the group went a different way. From there my phone never stopped ringing from good people like Jill Scott. People that were rocking with me even before I started working with Tye. I was working with Eric Roberson, Mike Posner, Diddy and Chris Brown. I never stopped working

CL: You performed with Chris Brown on Saturday Night Live a couple weeks ago, how was that experience?

AC: It was cool. I love Chris, he's a homie. And he can dance his butt off. Good talented dude with a great heart.

CL: On your mixtape Welcome to My World you have a song entitled Second Thought featuring my favorite singer Brandy. How did that happen?

AC: Brandy is the singer's singer. Every singer and musician loves Brandy. She's phenomenal...who wouldn't want to work with her. She did a song called Second Thought that I didn't think got enough attention so I recorded it. A lot of people love the song. I'm just happy to have my name beside hers.

CL:How long did it take for you to record the mixtape?

AC: It's a long story. Honestly I didn't want to release a mixtape because I believe my songs are a lot bigger but than mixtape status. I like to make BIG records. I said it in my intro “my songs are bigger than the club and the weekend”. Some songs I've had for awhile and some songs are very close to me like Hold You Close (one of my faves) . I didn't want to put that song on there because I just knew it was a great song. It's a couple others, I put some fumbles on there too. I didn't want to do it but I had to to get everybody's attention. It's not a game.

CL: When can we expect a full length album from you?

AC: Sooner than later, I'm talking to a couple major labels right now. I'm trying to see who has the right vision that I lines up with mine. Once that goes down, you'll have it in Walmart and it won't be free anymore.

CL: But you do want to go with the majors though? I've talked to Eric Roberson and he said that he's completely happy as an independent artist. He's had the best of both worlds.

AC: Eric Roberson is a mentor of mine. He's like the “iron man” of independent music. He had a deal and now he's doing better without one. It's all about the personal goal that you have for yourself. Personally, I want the necessary vehicle to push me to get my music in certain arenas. I love my hardcore fan base but I need some people that may not be able to get a hold of my music or my website to know who I am.

CL: I ran across some footage of you and Guy Torry busting each other's chops backstage at the Jill Scott/Maxwell tour. Are you a comedian on the side?

AC: Guy is my homie and he opened up for Jill on the tour. The rule of thumb is you never go up against a comedian ever. If they cant tell no jokes they will chop you up. That's easy for them...they learn that at the lunch table.

CL: You held you're own though.

AC: See I'm no slouch. Coming from Tye & G.A that's all we did...crack jokes on the tour bus. We would get on the bus for 3 and 4 hours and just go at it. We would get to the gig like “oh we gotta sing now” because we forgot. We just like to have a good time. Guy is one of those dudes. The cameras were on so I couldn't go down. And they weren't going to put me on youtube talking about Guy killed you. I didn't want none of the homies around the way to say that about me.

CL: What other instruments besides the drums do you play?

AC: The guitar and I can play the keys a little bit just to get my ideas out. I'm not going to sing you a song or John Legend you or anything.

CL: What's your recording process like? Do you right the lyrics after you hear the melody or vice versa?

AC: It depends, being that I like and understand a lot of music. I probably love all of the genres. It depends on what the music is saying. I can get in a room with a band and write 3 or 4 songs in a 2 hours if it feels good. A producer can send me a beat and I'll try to connect to what the track is saying to me. With that sometimes the melody will come first and I'll just hum the whole track and come back later and form words out of it. Sometimes I will have an issue or a story I want to tell.

CL: Are the majority of your lyrics personal or you draw from other people?

AC: I'll draw from anything-personal, friends and people I know. Stuff I saw my parents,friends and people I know go through and even my experiences. If its too personal, I'll throw a name on it like Julia.

CL: Do you want the focus to be on you this album or do you have some heavy hitters featured on the album?

AC: We got a couple but I'm not telling no names.*serious face*

CL: Any hints.

AC: Grammy award winners, actors, movie stars...if I told you everything you wouldn't buy it.

CL: What can your fans expect you to bring to your live set?

AC: Everything. You're going to feel what love feels like, have a good time, party, cry ,you might sit awhile in think ,you might want to get a drink and hold t as high as you can til you spill on yourself. You're going to have a good time.

CL: What's up next for you? Are you going to be doing spot dates?

AC: This month Chris is doing a run in Australia, I'll be apart of that. After that, I think I'm going to do crash a bunch of colleges and HBCU's in the spring or fall. I might just come to your school set up in the cafeteria and start singing with you.