Camara Kambon

Camara Kambon (born February 4, 1973) is an American film composer, songwriter, pianist, music producer and educator. He is known for his collaborations with Dr. Dre on Chronic 2001, Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. He co-wrote Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair, composed the theme for the Mara Brock Akil produced CW sitcom, Girlfriends, the score for the Dreamworks’ feature film, Biker Boyz. He has collaborated with directors such as Oliver Stone, Orlando Bagwell, LeVar Burton, and Rick Famuyiwa. Kambon has received a Sports Emmy Award, two nominations, three Grammy nominations, a BMI Pop Award and a BMI Film/TV Award.
==Biography==
Camara Kambon grew up in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. His mother first noticed his attraction to music when, at 10 months, he began rhythmically tapping on his highchair. He began taking drum lessons at age two and piano lessons at four. By age six, he began writing original compositions. At age 10, Kambon was awarded the Jacques Kahn scholarship to attend the Peabody Preparatory School of the Johns Hopkins University. At 14, he was awarded the Eubie Blake scholarship and performed with jazz legend trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. It was during this same year he encountered composer and longtime Bill Cosby collaborator, Stu Gardner, who inspired an interest in composing for TV and film.
In the fall of 1991, Kambon received the Jesse Stone scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in film scoring and music production & engineering. While there, he composed his first score for the Emmy-nominated film, Dancing: New Worlds New Forms, produced by award-winning documentary filmmaker Orlando Bagwell. At 19, he also composed music for a second Orlando Bagwell film, the PBS Emmy Award winning feature length documentary, Malcolm X: Make it Plain. Kambon composed music for Bagwell’s Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History, released in 1994. In 1995, Kambon premiered his commissioned piece, Korikabaya, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. 
After graduating from Berklee in 1995, Kambon moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a composer. A year later, then 23, Kambon became the youngest composer to receive a national Emmy award, for the Kirby Bradley produced HBO film Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. In that same year, Kambon was hired to work with rapper and record producer Dr. Dre as his keyboardist, music director and orchestrator in residence for all recordings of his newly formed company, Aftermath Entertainment. He performed on Dr. Dre hits Forgot About Dre and The Next Episode drawing on his classical background, which influenced the usage of strings and other orchestral instruments in this signature sound; Eminem’s My Name Is and Guilty Conscious; Snoop Dogg’s B**** Please; and co-wrote Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair, the singer’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100. In 1997 Kambon was selected as a fellow in the Sundance Institute Composer’s Lab. In early 2001, Kambon was hired as A&R/Producer-in-Residence by Virgin Records, working with artists including Aaliyah and Nikka Costa. He produced songs for DreamWorks artists, Kina and Jessy Moss. Kambon also recorded, wrote and/or arranged songs for artists, including 50-Cent, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, George Michael, Nine Inch Nails, Gwen Stefani, Xzibit, N.W.A., Warren G, Mack-10, and D12.
In 2010 Kambon took a break from music to earn a master’s degree in transpersonal psychology from Atlantic University. The following years, Kambon focused on educating youth and up-and-coming composers and music producers. He regularly performs live as a jazz pianist.
Kambon is currently composing the score for Acts of Reparation, his fourth collaboration with director Macky Alston, co-directed with fellow producer Selina Davidson Lewis.
==Filmography==
===Film===
* Dancing: New Worlds New Forms (1993) 
* Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1994)
* Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994)
* Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion (1995)
* Family Name (1997) 
* Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? (1997)
* The Tiger Woods Story (1998)
* The Wood (1999)
* Any Given Sunday (1999) 
* Michael Jordan to the Max (2000)
* Dancing in September (2001)
* OJ: A Study in Black and White (2002)
* Questioning Faith: Confessions of a Seminarian (2002)
* A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers (2002) 
* Biker Boyz (2003) 
* Citizen King (2004)
* Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
* Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
* Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)
* Daddy’s Girl (2007)
* Hard Road Home (2008)
* La Corona (2008) 
* Now En Español (2015)
* John Lewis: Get in the Way (2015)
* Acts of Reparation (2024)
===Television series===
* Damon (1998)
* Girlfriends (2000)
* 2gether: The Series (2000)
* Matters of Race (2003) 
* One Night in Vegas (2010) 
* Seau (2018) 
==Awards and nominations==
* In 1995, Kambon won a national Sports Emmy Award for the HBO film Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.
* In 1997, Kambon received his second [Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary, Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?.
* In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for co-writing Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.
* In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Nelly Furtado’s album Whoa, Nelly!.
* In 2002, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Eve’s album, Scorpion.
* In 2002, Kambon received his third [Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers.
* In 2003, Kambon received a BMI Pop Award for Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.
Category:American film score composers
Category:American hip hop musicians
Category:American male pianists
Category:Music producers
Category:Educators