Cam Christian was an ordinary USC student with a passion for music. During his time at the university in 2006, he played basketball at the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, waited in line for football tickets and made beats in his dorm. Now, 16 years later, Cam Christian is a rising solo music artist with a newly released album.
Christian is originally from Yemassee, South Carolina, but he got his start in music from his older brother, Sam King, who also went to USC. King was pursuing music professionally in Columbia before Christian, which inspired him to start his musical journey.
Christian currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. However, he still calls himself a South Carolinian artist.
While Christian was at USC, he studied psychology and created sound edits for events, which led him to realize what he wanted to do.
It wasn't until 2017 that his career took off. That year, Christian met T-Pain through his brother. When T-Pain was searching for a starting act for his Afterparty Tour, Christian's brother mentioned Christian's EDM band.
Christian and his EDM group were then invited to accompany T-Pain on his worldwide tour. Christian was the lead singer and songwriter of this group, but he also DJ’ed live on the tour.
The EDM band was able to create a few songs with T-Pain, but after a few years, the group broke up, and Christian started to reflect on his career path more.
“I had to take a step back and just focus on myself. Focus on where I wanted to go career-wise,” Christian said.
After some struggle in deciding what path he wanted to take in the industry, Christian ultimately decided he wanted to produce, write and perform songs as a solo artist.
Christian said he released his new album, "Palmetto," in Dec. 2021 to grow as a solo artist. "Palmetto" shares his life in and love for South Carolina with a special song called "Oh, Carolina." He said he feels the lyrics are most meaningful because they are based on a true story.
"If you're from South Carolina or if you've lived there, then you understand how true that is," Christian said about his lyrics.
He said one of his goals is to get "Oh, Carolina" played at every Gamecock football game.
"If we can get 'Carolina' to be the next Sandstorm, I'll retire," Christian said.
When creating songs, Christian said he doesn't write down his material. Whatever comes to him during his creative process, he immediately records, singing his songs into existence on the spot. He also said he tries to work on remaining true to himself when writing.
"I have to really sit down with the intention of what am I trying to portray, and I always have to go back to who I am trying to be as an artist," Christian said.
Christian Ahmed, another musical artist who frequently collaborates with Christian, knows that Christian's process is another way he stays true to himself.
"His music is a time for him to like really open up to how he feels and what he thinks," Ahmed said.
James Carr, a coworker and friend of Christian's, thinks very highly of Christian as an artist.
"The fact that he's been able to, you know, put his vulnerability but also his values into the world and see, you know, a positive reflection back, it's just really powerful," Carr said.
Christian is currently working on many projects, including a theme song for an upcoming TV series on Black Entertainment Television.