NO CREATIVE BOUNDARIES | Cam Archer

INTERVIEW @KBTindal PHOTOGRAPH @Nicklausgray

Cam Archer is a West Coast MC that was born in the Inland Empire and raised in San Bernardino. He grew up as an avid fan of gaming and comic books. He's been inspired by the most common and uncommon artists from Jay-Z, Wale, Lupe Fiasco, Lloyd Banks to the legendary Nirvana and Daft Punk. His early album influences were Gorilla Warfare from the Hot Boys and of course The Slim Shady LP by the one and only Eminem. He has released a full length project almost every year since 2010. He has a strong presence in the game with over a decade of time as an artist. His raps exude references of street life that he scarcely avoided along with some knowledge, pain, comedic humor and of course that strong sense of bravado that any pure MC brings to the table. I last interviewed him back in 2017 when he won the Open Bar Challenge with DJ Caesar and Coach PR on the Weekend Work show on Shade 45 on Sirius XM Radio and in the last seven years he's been consistently putting in work. He's barred it down on multiple platforms including Bootleg Kev and most recently he dropped a seven minute freestyle, as he won the Corner Store Challenge and tore that platform down as well. We got into all the smoke about everything from his upbringing to what keeps his pen sharp. Tap in with San Bernadino’s own Cam Archer.

Validated: Since the last time we spoke in 2016 you've released multiple projects including; Spirit Gunner, Inside Voices, No Apologies, Midnight Run, El Guapo 2 and El Guapo 3, Cam Is Outside, Don't Mention It, and The Pleasure is Mine. Too many singles to mention including your latest one “What You Make It” featuring Kidd Dryden. Tell me man, what keeps you motivated to keep putting out bodies of work the way that you do and what keeps you from getting frustrated with this game?

Cam Archer: I mean my whole creative process is basically more so about me and what I'm going through in life anyway. So a lot of times I fall into the same pits of those artistic holes that I feel like every artist probably falls through a lot like me. So you get in those moments you're like “Man I ain't put nothing else out. I'm tired of this.” I feel like we all fall into those pitfalls. But I feel like eventually if you really love the craft like you're going to want to keep putting stuff out. And it's kind of just almost like for the sake of your own mindset that's kind of how I look at it. This is more so for me than it is for anybody else. I got to keep putting out quality work to keep myself in a place of peace mentally.

Validated: I noticed a trend in a lot of your projects where you don't have a lot of features… Is that by design? Why is that usually the case?

Cam Archer: I don't want to say it's by design. I think a lot of the times I look at it a few different ways. When I'm putting out an album a lot of times I go into it with an idea and kind of like a whole fleshed out concept in my head when I start anyway. So a lot of the times, I kind of look at it as how am I going to paint this picture and tell this story. I don't even think about other people being involved. I've tried to be better at that. I usually have singers I want to put on there or something like that. But I don't usually have too many rappers. So I'm trying to work on that as I work on these newer projects. I'm trying to think like “Okay. Who else would I put on this. If I were to put a verse on it, who would be on it?” That type of thing. A lot of times that's where my head goes with it. It's more so vocally who can help me do what, who can bring what I can't bring to this project as a lyricist already. And oftentimes maybe it's a little bit of me stacking my plate too much. But yeah I usually just end up not needing any of the rappers on there.

Validated: Not to knock any other artist or anything like that but do you find that your level of competitiveness and your level of lyricism is not what a lot of artists bring to the table?

Cam Archer: I don't want to say that. I feel like I'm pretty fortunate to at least in my circumference of people that I work with, I can't say that. I can say that anybody that is usually around me is pretty lyrically inclined. I don’t have to worry about like, “Oh so and so.” If I hit so and so up for a verse, is it gonna be good or anything like that. I don't have to worry about that. So I'm pretty fortunate from that standpoint. But yeah I feel like there are some pockets where that could be an issue. But fortunately for me I don't have that issue.

Validated: Who's the one MC or producer that you work with regularly that brings out your sharpest pen game?

Cam Archer: I feel like as far as production goes I mean I've been working with Oh Gosh Leotus since Coco Mania very heavily. So it's just kind of like we mesh very well. So he knows exactly what I'm looking for and I know that his beats are so dope. I don't have a choice but to go crazy on his beats, like it's almost disrespectful if I don't. So he and I work very closely now with another affiliate of mine Nabeyin, who is a Grammy nominated producer. He's worked for a lot of people. He's also from the Inland Empire from San Bernardino. He's a Ghanaian American producer. He just was on the Travis album. He's produced on Drake's albums. He's like been on everything. He’s produced for Jamla artists for Nights Camp. He works with everybody. We have like a different dynamic as opposed to me and Leo where it just kind of flows naturally. Nabeyin will be more hands on with the input of, “Oh this hook should sound like this or you should redo this verse or something like that.”  He has his ideas of things. So that brings a whole different vibe to the table than what I would normally have. So that's always a welcome thing too.

Validated: What's your earliest memory of Hip-Hop?

Cam Archer: My earliest memory. I don't even know if this counts technically but my earliest memory of Hip Hop is Positive K.

Validated: That definitely counts bro, for real.

Cam Archer: That was the first song that I was singing when I was really little.   

Validated: Which one? Which Positive K song?

Cam Archer: “What's Your Man Got to Do With Me?” Apparently that was my joint. According to Moms she said that I was really big on that record.

Validated: That's what's up.

Cam Archer: So that was probably why I was probably like three years old like singing that song, and my mom was tripping out about why I would be singing that song.

Validated: That's super, super dope. I think MC Lyte was the female on that song if I'm not mistaken. But yeah that's super dope dope. What's been your most memorable moment as an artist so far?

Cam Archer: My most memorable moment as an artist, well I got a couple now. The first time I opened for Lupe was probably the first time I got like that moment of “Oh like people realize and respect how I do this that don't even know me.” That was the first time I had people like I was selling CDs and stuff and I ran out of CDs and people were like “I don't care if you have any more here just take money.” They were like “We just want to see you keep doing your thing.” That was important because maybe a year later, I would open up for him again at a different venue and there were people in the crowd that came to see like waiting in line as I was going in for soundcheck, who recognized me and were like “Yo I still got the shirt. I still got the CD.” They were excited that I was there to open for Lupe. So that was pretty big for me to kind of give me that validation of “Okay it's not just people in my city. It's not just when you got friends who just want to support you. It's more than that, like the talent is really something I could probably do something with.”

And just recently having a song produced by Mike Shinoda from Lincoln Park was pretty mind blowing for me. Those are probably the two things that are up there the highest right now.

Validated: Like I said man you've been by all by all standards consistent. Even if you feel like you haven't been in certain areas or you took some time off and didn't put out a project as quickly just looking at the body of work it's very consistent. I think that's where a lot of artists fail. They're so gung-ho on just trying to get the one hit record. They don't grasp the concept that continuing to write no matter what the goal is, like always keep writing, always keep putting out work. You've done that bro. So, I commend you on that. Absolutely.

Cam Archer: Thank you.

Validated: I saw you accept an award for the Only Empire Now verse of the year for “Forgotten Heavy.” You mentioned your competitive spirit as well the multitude of talents that needs to be recognized in the IE. What's the mission to get more of these artists recognized and what's the energy like in the IE? Are the bulk of these artists supportive of each other or is there some type of tension that goes on in different places and stuff like that? Talk to me about that a little bit.

Cam Archer: I feel like the only issue with the IE right now is just how many different demographics and pockets there are musically because it's such a big area. There's millions of people here so the only downside, I could really say, is people are supportive but they're supportive of the people within their pocket. So it doesn't always expand out of that. I would never say there's any tension. I feel like every city probably has a little bit of that crab in a bucket mentality. But for the most part like each pocket is super supportive of everybody in their pocket but it's just in their pocket. And there's so many different styles that it might seem like there's a divide or a difference. It's just that people don't know who's who. There might be a lot of people who might not even know who I am in the IE just because of how the pockets are separated. So it's really on us as artists to kind of try to bridge the gap as much as we can and bring everybody together to kind of help people to realize there's so much talent out here. There's talented lyricists. There's a talented artist making commercial style music if you will. We do everything out here. So it's just a matter of making sure that we display that as much as we can as often as we can.

Validated: Two albums in 2023, Don't Mention It, The Pleasure is Mine and Cam Is Outside. What has the feedback been on those albums outside of your circle? Has it opened up doors? Have you gotten surprised at people coming at you saying, “Damn bro, I listen to these projects,” and you've gained new fans along the way? What's that been like for you?

Cam Archer: The thing about Cam Is Outside is that it was just me ultimately being petty. So that was the only reason why that project happened. That was just me being petty, kind of just showing that I have one of the most versatile pens in my city period, so I can do whatever. I do a lot of what I do by choice. You can't box me. You can't box me into any sound. I can do whatever I want. So that was kind of the point of Cam Is Outside was to do that and it was dope because it got like a lot of love from people who aren't in my “pocket,” of like, the “rapper-rappers.” It kind of let them know like “Oh yeah Cam can do whatever he wants, he got it.” That's it. It was just kind of like I know. It was just reminding y'all that I can do that and it's just by choice. So that's why it was called Cam Is Outside. 

There was a specific list that came out that my name wasn't mentioned in by somebody who wasn't from the city. This list was made by somebody who isn't even from the city. So when they asked, like people were asking like “Cam why aren't you on this list?” I just replied to them when “I'm not outside. I'm in the house. I'm not outside trying to get on a list like this. Don't get it twisted if I want to be on something like this I can be.” So that was the impetus for that. 

Don't Mention that the Pleasure is Mine was actually a compilation that I did for a show that I was doing at The Viper Room. I got on a bill at The Viper Room and I was really excited about it. So I wanted to do something for people who were going to buy a ticket to that show. So I put together this compilation of songs that I knew had songs from when I went to New York and recorded them in New York at Quad Studios and at Platinum Sound. I had some songs just kind of sitting in the tuck that I was like I don't know where these are going to go. So I may as well just let people hear them instead of just sitting on these records. So I put together this compilation for anybody who bought a ticket but that was the year prior. So I was like this project never went on streaming, I'm going to put it on streaming. And what I liked about doing that was I like to see how songs are gravitated towards when you don't force them first as a single. So this is the first time I put out just a collection of songs and been like “Okay. What do you actually like?” Without me telling you this is the song you should like. So that's been cool to get the feedback on that and see what people are actually gravitating towards to listen to.

Validated: Where did the competitive spirit come from for you? Did you play sports as a kid? Where did it come from prior to the music?

Cam Archer: I am a sports addict. Everything that I ever wanted to do in life revolved around sports. My whole view of things revolved around sports. Everything in my childhood was pretty much sports. I wanted to be a baseball player then I wanted to be a basketball player. My pops played on a few teams professionally in football but he couldn't stay healthy. I should have played football. I was supposed to play safety but it just didn't happen that way because I was allergic to grass. That wasn’t going to happen. It was just different stuff. I'm a big pro wrestling fan, obviously I love all that stuff. So it's like I've always had a competitive nature within me to my detriment sometimes. I guess rap was the next natural step. Because that's all rap is really right? It's very competitive at its essence.

Validated: Competitive bragging.

Cam Archer: Exactly. So I realized oh I'm actually nice at this and then I felt like in my head I'm like “Oh I'm realizing I'm not just nice I'm better than a lot of people at this,” so it was in no time for me that I was like we gonna step this up and go crazy as we can with this.

Validated: Yes. I'm glad that you are continuing the work. Even from when you did the Open Bar Challenge and DJ Ceasar picked you as the winner and you went to New York like I had just come to Cali at that time. I came out here in 2015. That was around 2016/2017-ish. Yeah man just to see you continuing the work. Because what happens is a lot of artists man and I'm sure you you've seen this they come out and you're like “Yo you dope like you really fucking nice”. And then all of a sudden they just fall off. They just disappear.

Cam Archer: Absolutely.

Validated: They just don't want to stay on top of actually chasing-- I won't even call it chasing the dream. I would just say, stay on top of just being a creative person and just constantly doing some type of work. But I've seen you do that man so that's super commendable bro. Absolutely man.

Cam Archer: Thank you.

Validated: I know when we last spoke a long time ago at one point you said before becoming a rapper that you thought you were maybe gonna design video games. I know you still play. Are you trying to make something happen with any video game companies? Or if you have already and I'm just not aware of it? Or  having your music featured in some or any possibilities of being a creative mind behind developing one?

Cam Archer: I've definitely tried to get my music into games and tried to contribute to it that way. I've worked alongside Mega Ran and stuff like that. So I get to pick his brain about like yo how would I go about this if I were going to do this because he's basically sponsored by Capcom so he's very tapped in and is very aware of how it goes. So I'm fortunate enough to be able to pick his brain on stuff like that. But not as of yet. I haven't been able to. And I've definitely pitched my music to video games, commercials, all that good stuff. The time just hasn't come yet but I'm patient. I'm fortunate and also like Oh Gosh Leotus and Nabeyin they do a lot of syncing and Licensing stuff. They've had their music used in a lot of places.

It wasn't a video game but the one thing I was fortunate enough to be a part of was a show produced by Lebron James that ended up on ESPN called “Best Shot”, me and my camp basically did the entire soundtrack for that and that was on Warner Brothers and got released. So I got to do that. Nothing video game wise yet but it'll happen soon. I feel like it's gonna happen. I believe that it will.

Validated: Is there a plan B?

Cam Archer: Is there a plan B outside of music?

Validated: Yes.

Cam Archer: Yes all my plan B even if it wasn't music it would still be some form of entertainment. So the only thing that I would do outside of this and I've done some of this as well probably voiceover work, things of that nature. I was fortunate enough to do a NBA commercial for when Vince Carter was retiring. I was fortunate enough to do the NBA Canada commercial for that where they were kind of like paying homage to Vince. I've been able to dip my toe in stuff like that and that led me to a couple other gigs that helped at a time when the money was needed, I needed a little bit of bread out of nowhere here comes a voice job. It's been cool to have those opportunities like that. Definitely something I would look into and I've continued to look into avenues of doing stuff like that. I try to not think about the safety net too often but that would definitely be it if I can't get the music off to a level that I would be comfortable with.

Validated: What can people expect from you that’s upcoming as far as merch is concerned, as far as other projects that you're working on or anything that they should be looking out for from Cam Archer in the near future?

Cam Archer: I'm currently working on a project technically it'll be like a double thing but me and Nabeyin are working on a project. We've been working on this on the low-key for five, six years. It's called “Banner Boys.” We're going to drop that pretty soon. We're putting the touches on that. Adding features, verses, vocalists and things of that nature to that.

I have a camp known as OE (Over Everything), myself, Jay Kaisai, Nicklaus Gray, CJ Westley,. We rap on everything and then of course Nabeyin and Oh Gosh Leotus just produced everything. We did like a week camp where we knocked out like almost 30 songs and we’re cleaning all that up to put that out as a project this year as well. And then after that I'm going to start working on, as I like to call the “album-album.” Because I feel like I haven't done an album, like a true album in the essence of what I do in a while and that's always going to pick at me and needle me. But at the same time I know I need to do this one correctly because I'm really passionate about the concept that I have behind it. That'll be the next step, so that might come out this year. It might come out next year. I'm not really going to rush it. You're going to get a lot more music from me for sure whether it's on an album, EP whatever that may be in the next 12 months for sure. And I'm working on some more shows out of state as well. Right now I was actually just talking to somebody. I was emailing back and forth with some people about pulling up on some of their dates and rocking a few shows out of state. So yeah just trying to keep busy man. Trying to stay as busy as possible.

Validated: Absolutely. Last question man. In the spirit of Hip-Hop turning 50 years old last year, what does Hip-Hop mean to you?

Cam Archer: Hip-Hop is literally what gave me the voice that I have in general, just the level of confidence that I was able to develop as I became an adult. Without Hip-Hop I wouldn't even have that because that helped me realize what my strengths were. Hip-Hop I'm pretty sure not on purpose helped me realize that I can accept criticism for the things that I do without taking it as a complete flight on me as a person. Hip-Hop showed me all of that. There was a very young immature, just not used to the everything is an attack, kind of mindset when you have that and then you put yourself out in any form or facet to the world and you're going to have to accept criticism and that in that light because it's no longer just yours. You just gave it to a bunch of people to take part in or just take it apart. So Hip-Hop gave me that and it just continues to give me a voice man. I don't know where I would be in all honesty if I wasn't able to have a creative outlet the way that I do in music.