Writer’s Block: Jasper Cameron
Jasper Cameron
Atlanta, Ga
Notables:
“Bed Rock” – Young Money ft. Lloyd
“You” – Lloyd
ft. Lil Wayne
When did you start writing songs?
I started writing songs in high school when I was in a R&B group called Pure Bliss. We couldn’t afford nobody, so we started writing our own songs. I was the primary song writer in the group.
How did the transition from artist to writer happen?
We signed with this lady named Joyce Irby who was the lead singer of the group Klymaxx from back in the 80’s. She also discovered Dallas Austin, and she actually signed me, Sammy and Lloyd at the same time. She took us all to Dallas (Austin) and he signed us.
Ms. Irby brought you guys to Dallas as artists?
As artists, song-writers and producers, but she got my group a deal at Warner Bros. She got Lloyd’s group ‘In Tune’ a deal through Dream Works, and she got Sammy a deal through Capitol. When Sammy had his first big song “I Like It,” In Tune was in the video. All of us was like ‘crew’.
What happened once you were signed to Dallas?
He signed me as an artist, and from that point on, I was under Dallas for seven or eight years. He taught me how to produce and write, and from there I got on Christina Aguilera’s song “Dirty.” That was the first big song that I wrote on. Then I did the Nelly joint “Na, na, na.” Me and Jazze Pha got down on that. It got goin’ from there.
So you got to work on big songs from the jump?
Not really from the jump because for a long time I was just a writer up under him, and I was just learning and getting placements that were getting assigned to his label. Like, I wrote half of Sammy’s first album when he was like twelve. That was my initiation to the game ‘cause I could write real good for him. Me and him started writing together when we was young. From then on, the other stuff fell into place. I lived in the projects, so it was like, ‘It’s either projects or the studio’, so I was in that studio.
When you’re creating a song for someone, do you write specifically for the individual, or get them to adapt your concepts?
Well actually it goes both ways. Like, me and Ciara wrote “Promise” together – me, her and Polow Da Don got down on that. That was really, literally, exactly what she was going through at that time. “Crying Out For Me” was something I was going through. A week later I wrote that song. Mario heard it, and he was just like, “I wanna cut it.”
Many writers and producers that I speak to say they started off wanting to be artists, but they ended up slipping into what they do. Have your interests in being an artist slipped away?
I’m just getting ready to do the artist thing again. I got my first single coming out called “Money on the Bed (D-boy sex)”. But I think every producer and songwriter was an artist first. That’s where we get the love from to really wanna do it. A lot of us end up doing the producing and writing because that might just happen first. I just love music so much I would do anything that was associated with it.
What’s on your agenda now?
We just came back from L.A. working on some new joints for Lloyd’s album (King of Hearts –in stores 2/14/11). Lloyd’s like my little brother. I just did some new work on Ciara’s new album, then me, Sammy and my partner Big Reese got a label deal through Interscope. We got Sammy signed through our label deal for Street Love/Interscope, so we’re working on Sammy’s new album, then I’m working on my solo album. So we’re just grindin’ and workin’ with anybody and everybody who wanna work.
Leave a Reply