Cameron Bethany — For Memphis
By: Thomas Gerbasi
Tags: Music, Interview, Memphis, Features

Cameron Bethany

Despite the rich musical history of Memphis, in recent years, those from the city wanting to follow their dreams in the business weren’t willing — or able — to do it at home.

“At first, you had to leave to become anything,” said Cameron Bethany. “Most of my peers moved to LA and within weeks landed jobs.”

Not jobs working at a local restaurant or in an office cubicle, but solid music gigs with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, The Jacksons and Ciara. Bethany watched…and waited.

“It brought along some more doubt, it brought along some moments of depression sometimes, watching them succeed, and being proud but wondering when it was going to be my turn. When do I get the chance to show the world that I’m capable, when do I get to express myself to the world and show them what I got?”

In November, he got his shot, with his debut album, You Make Me Nervous, garnering him the response he craved ever since he found out that he had something special to offer the world.

“I originally started doing this more selfishly,” Bethany said. “It was more so because it made me feel good. I didn’t feel good a lot. But that was like my superpower. I could sing and I was a boy. I had a high, interesting voice when I was younger, so people would look at me with this face of not expecting that. The response was always great and it warmed my heart that people got joy or felt something from something that I did. Because I wasn’t good at a whole lot of stuff. I wasn’t a sports player, I wasn’t an instrumentalist. I was smart but I wasn’t a genius. I didn’t have a lot to me. I was quiet and shy and I just liked to laugh and I liked to sing. I knew I needed to do something different.”

At 27, he has. Calling his music Mod Fusion, Bethany has created an album that can easily fit in on the radio, while sounding like nothing on the radio. That’s a gift, one in his DNA, but one also honed with renowned Memphis producer IMAKEMADBEATS (James Dukes), who released You Make Me Nervous on his Unapologetic label. And while the two obviously meshed musically, the word “unapologetic” was a sign to Bethany that this union didn’t just happen by chance, and it came at the perfect time.

“I left my dad’s church in 2014 and just made the decision to embark on my own spiritual journey,” said Bethany, the son of a Bishop who grew up “traditionally Christian.” “It helped me to open my mind to myself a lot and not be so quick to judge myself or put guilt on myself for the things that I feel and the person that I am.

“So when we started working on it (the album), it was shortly after leaving the church and I was trying to find myself and stop apologizing for being who I was. It was like a confirmation. That was exactly what I was praying for, to feel unapologetically me every day.”

Yet while Bethany and Dukes were on the same musical page, the question was, would the world get on board as well?

“He (Dukes) was more confident in it than I was when I first had the idea,” Bethany said. “He really believed in what I wanted to do. We just jumped in headfirst and there were a lot of days when we would both walk away from sessions feeling like we didn’t know where we were going, what it was, what it was gonna turn into. But we just kept with it and it came out to be something really beautiful and I wouldn’t change a thing now.”

That’s today. But between those times when Bethany wanted to take his music in a new direction from the various boxes he had been painted in — Gospel, Neo-Soul, R&B — and his current state as a rising star, there were the battles within, when he wondered whether he would be best served by leaving town and going west. But his heart always came back to Memphis. So he stayed.

“One thing I respect about this city so much is that it’s a place where real raw art and real raw talent is born,” he said. “And you come in contact with these people that are just like aliens when it comes to things and nobody knows about them. We don’t get the public recognition that we deserve here, but that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of greatness and a lot of magic has come from this place and it’s still being brewed here. I’ve gone back and forth with the idea of moving to another state so I can see the world. But I knew this first project had to be done from here. It had to be done from home because I wanted to be able to show people that what you think about Memphis is not all there is to Memphis. It’s almost like you have to be here to know what it is completely, but Memphis is changing the trajectory of what people consider it to be as far as music.”

And now he has what he always wanted.

“To be able to say that this project was produced and recorded and completely mastered in Memphis, Tennessee, it’s like a badge of honor to carry and I’m more grateful for that than anything else.”

When Bethany says it, you can hear the excitement and pride in his voice. There are no regrets, no questions anymore. And if you listen to You Make Me Nervous, it’s clear that he made the right call.

Cameron Bethany has arrived.

Unapologetic.



“It’s a really gratifying feeling,” he said. “Leading up to it, there was so much confidence and then doubt minutes later. It was a constant back and forth battle between wanting to stay true to what it was but still dealing with the feelings of ‘What If?’ What if the people whose opinions you really care about don’t like it or what if people don’t understand it or it doesn’t do what you think it should do. But I’m really grateful that I stayed true and that IMAKEMADBEATS stayed true on his end, and now seeing it flourish and the attention that it’s getting and the love and respect that it’s getting just makes me proud. It’s like watching your baby walk for the first time. It’s a beautiful thing and I’m relishing it and thanking God at the same time.”

For more information on Cameron Bethany, click here