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DJ CAM Interview
Laurent Dumair a.k.a. DJ Cam, France's answer to Vadim, Krush and the like, gave his aural form a sharp tweak recently. Cam tossed his characteristic sparse beats and abstractions out the window on his new album, The Beat Assassinated. Rather, the likes of Guru and Premier influenced his latest effort, on which the charismatic Frenchman sums up his jive: "And I love hip-hop like Madonna loves dick." DJ Cam encapsulates NYC's urban soundscapes, and hits them with an unprecedented artillery of vocal support. For Cam, The Beat Assassinated marks a long-anticipated departure from his earlier brand of easy bedroom listening. "Substance is a chill-out LP," Cam remarks on his previous effort. "I really wanted to do some dance floor tracks on my new LP, because with Substance, I was really frustrated, it was impossible for me to play my tracks in the clubs." After releasing Substance and subsequent 12"s, Cam made contacts with MCs around the globe, including New York's Channel Live, and up-and-coming French hip-hop crew KDD (with rapper Dadou). Hip-hop's recent synthesis of old (GangStarr, Rakim) and new (Shadow, Krush, Vadim) befits Cam, and his uprooted sensibility. The Beat Assassinated melds old-school with newer innovations like speed-garage and jungle. "It's boring to always do the same style of music, no?" Oui. "Last year, we got a lot of commercial hip-hop like Puff Daddy. Now, there's a little revolution against this movement coming from New York." Cam also (adamantly) disassociates himself with the buzz around French club music, in the wake of Dimitri and Daft Punk. As he dismisses, "it's just hype." Nonetheless, he's relieved that French commercial radio finally got hip to house and jungle last year. He also notes with pride that several French TV news programs incorporate his own downbeat tracks in their broadcasts. But as the French hip-hop scene shakes its head on house and jungle crossover, Cam finds himself alienated. "I'm very open-minded," he asserts. "The French hip-hop business is really big out in France now, but with the French, it's always very straight." So Cam's taken matters into his own hands. He rounded up his own posse of turntablists and MC's, and calls it "DJ Cam Sound System," a coalition between DJ Cam, DJ Djam and DJ Science. DJ Cam Sound System hits the States with a whirlwind tour this summer, and heads off to Asia and the rest of the globe. And what's in store next for the exuberant chameleon? "Maybe on my next LP," he muses, "a track with Guru, and a remix by Premier!!! You like that, no?" Oooooh la la. |