Today we had an exclusive chance to interview CAMARABI:
What is your stage name and how did you come up with it?
My stage name is CAMARABI (I pronounce it cam-uh-rob-ee). I came up with it as a nickname for myself when I was 11 years old. I was doing homework on world history and came across the story of Hammurabi, an ancient ruler in Babylon who created the “Code of Hammurabi.” Where the saying “an eye for an eye” is said to come from. I thought it would be cool to mix my name with his at the time and it stuck ever since. When it came time to decide what to name myself as an artist, I kept gravitating back towards that childhood nickname. It felt authentic and personal to me and I knew it was the right one for me. Sometimes people have trouble pronouncing it though lol, but it fits me like no other name.
Why did you first start making music?
I always loved music as a kid and would vibe out to the stuff my parents and the radio were playing. I started making my own music right around the start of junior high school, so I was about 11 or 12 years old. My father was a musician and had a setup in the crib for making music. When he left the house, I would sneak in and start making my own beats and recording myself over them. The songs were childish but over time I think they became a bit more mature. Especially as I got deeper into junior high school and high school. The content got dark fast lol. Some of my friends rapped too, so we would all freestyle over the phone and sneak into my father’s lab to make music. I remember I used to blow out his speakers sometimes. He used to be mad as hell lol. Eventually my parents got me my own keyboard to make beats, so I just locked in and started producing like crazy.
Talk me through your creative process.
I’ve spent a lot of my music career on the production side, so for me that’s always where my creative process starts. Even when I’m listening to a song or an album, I’m listening to the instrumental before anything else. When I make my own music, it starts with me producing a set of instrumentals for myself. I might just keep messing around on the keyboard or in Logic until I have a loop that sounds like ear candy to me. Then I usually expand on the loop until it tells a story. Once the beat’s in a good enough place for me to get a vibe from it, I just try to lean in to the vibe with my vocals and create a certain mood with the finished song.
What is still your biggest challenge?
I think the biggest challenge is deciding when a song is good enough to put out. Certain songs I’ve worked on for years and I still want to tweak them. So being too much of a perfectionist can sometimes slow things down.
Do you have a mantra?
I don’t really have a mantra but I like the word “boundless.” I think in life people are always trying to put boundaries around you or place limits on you. Sometimes it’s out of selfishness or sometimes they are trying to be helpful. Shit, sometimes we put limits around ourselves by not believing in ourselves or not wanting to leave our comfort zones. So the word “boundless” just reminds me that I can do anything I put my mind to and so can anyone else. For me it cuts through a lot of the bullshit people and society tell you.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Sonically, I try to make songs that sound like a certain moment or mood. It could be after you make some money and feel like you’re on top of the world or as chill as something that might sound good in a dark, moody hookah lounge at 2 am. Either way I like to give off a certain atmosphere or energy with every song. If I had to pick one thing that all my music has in common, it’s that we have the power to own our own lives and turn them into whatever we want to. So self-empowerment is probably the most common theme.
What’s your latest release?
My newest release is a song called “No Chase.” It features an artist from my hometown (Washington, DC) named A1 Flow. We just put out a video for it, too. It’s a high-energy record that’s about celebrating the day. I’m real excited about it cause it’s the kind of song I’ve always wanted to make. It’s got a lot of musical influences in it – pop, trap, rock, 80’s music, cyberpunk movie scores, all that lol.
What’s your best advice for handling criticism?
I think it’s helped me to remember that we all gotta start somewhere and you won’t improve unless you put things out in the world to be reacted to. Hearing all the ways something can be received is helpful, because it gives you more point-of-views to think about when you create other stuff. It’s hard to please everybody no matter how good your art is, so don’t take it personally. Just try to use constructive feedback to refine your product.
How do you currently feel about the state of Hip-hop in general?
I think there’s a lot of creativity and diversity in the game right now. If you go on Soundcloud or Youtube, you can find songs that mix and match all types of sounds and genres. Hip-hop’s got a lot of sub-cultures and everybody’s putting their unique fingerprint on it. I grew up on a lot of those classic 90’s/2000’s hip-hop records, but I understand art changes so I aint mad at the new sounds. There are people still making dope classic-style records if that’s what you’re looking for. I think there’s something for everybody nowadays.
What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be remembered?
I would just want to be remembered as someone who lived to the fullest and on his own terms. I want people to feel like they can do anything when they listen to my music.
CAMARABI Music Videos:
“No Chase (feat. A1 Flow)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfh8dHASntY
“In My Sleep” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRRl9We3syI
“Paper Lit” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQd1SMwjWtQ
CAMARABI Audio:
“Chasing the Stars” https://soundcloud.com/camarabi-music/camarabi-chasing-after-the-stars
“Top Floor (feat. A1 Flow)” https://soundcloud.com/camarabi-music/top-floor-feat-a1-flow
Social Media Links:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/camarabi-music
IG: https://www.instagram.com/camarabimusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Camarabi
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQHyoiFZy1tBYwCSAxpCUjw