We recently had the chance to connect with Cameron London and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Cameron, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Between working on my own music, running 1033 Records, and being an educator, I get caught up in my responsibilities. Recently, the thing that’s brought me joy and has become a much-needed distraction at times is spending time with my nephew. Sometimes he wants to play while I’m in the middle of working, and without a second thought, I pause my work long enough to play with him before he wants to eat or watch cartoons. As simple a thing as it is, just those few minutes of playing bring me a joy that has sometimes felt absent recently.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
For those that don’t know, I’m from Hampstead, a small coastal town in North Carolina. I love art in all of its forms, but I’m primarily a Music Artist, Producer & Audio Engineer. I’m also the founder of 1033 Records. Outside of music, I have always loved storytelling. I began writing the “Kyren” series of books back in 2018 and built a shared universe of stories between my music and books. While I understand the importance of business when it comes to profiting from art, my main focus has always been authenticity and expression. Everything that I’ve created, from my very first song to my most recent, acts as my lifelong journal/scrapbook. I’ve just wrapped up my next album, “Who Else But Me”. It’s an album that celebrates 30 years of life and will be released on my birthday, September 9th, 2025. I think it’s easily my best work yet.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
This has been a topic that’s crossed my mind a few times recently. For the last year, I’ve poured all my focus and resources into creating the best album I possibly could for my 30th birthday. There were so many topics that I tackled on the album that began to make me rethink a lot of things. I spent a lot of my life being a people pleaser, and there were numerous instances where I would allow myself to be taken advantage of or disrespected, for the sake of keeping the peace. But after working on this album and doing a lot of self-reflection and prayer, leaving that part of myself behind is long overdue. But at the same time, I think it gave me a new respect for my inner child and the amount of work I need to do to heal that part of myself now that I have begun the work to leave the more detrimental parts of myself behind.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
For a long time, I was the person the people around me needed me to be. I was never in situations of peer pressure or anything—I was always able to think for myself and make my own decisions, but I never wanted to disappoint anyone. I would always shrink myself down because I thought that being confident in myself was a bad thing. I thought that needing help or expressing my interests wasn’t something I should do because it upset people and inconvenienced them. But now that I’ve lived a bit, I’ve seen plenty of people who won’t hesitate to take up space even at the expense of people around them. There have been so many times I wouldn’t even ask the people closest to me for help, and I would just suffer quietly so I didn’t bother them. So I think I would just tell my younger self it’s okay to take up space, to be seen and heard.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
I’ve always tried to show that there’s only one Cameron London, and that is my authentic self. If you see me laughing while playing games, if you see me somewhat reserved as I’m being interviewed, or see me indulging in various nerdy activities, it’s all the real me. I don’t have an on/off switch of a personality that I use for content or anything. I used to have an alter ego/persona as a kid (Ca’Mel), but by the time I released my first album at age 17, I decided I wanted to just go by my real name. I’m very particular about what brand deals I do because I don’t want to cosign something that doesn’t align with you I am. Many people have told me that creating a persona would propel my career and open me up to new fans, but it means more to me that people support me because they resonate with who I am and the way I carry myself.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I’ve spent more than half of my life as an artist, and while I would love to say I hope that people remember me as a great artist and storyteller, I think I would rather be remembered for who I am rather than what I created. I hope that the students I’ve taught hold fond memories of the conversations we’ve had. I hope that my family will remember how much I cared about them and the little moments that get forgotten about as we run this rat race of life. But simply put, I just hope that people tell stories about the memories they have with me. This is why, going forward, I want to put more effort into living every day as fully as I can with the people I care about and that care about me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.1033records.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronlondon
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/cameronmlondon/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cameronlondon1033
- Other: Solo: https://www.solo.to/cameronlondon
Bandcamp: https://cameronlondon.bandcamp.com
EVEN: https://www.even.biz/artists/cameron
Image Credits
1033 Records, LLC
