K-Dot Da Phenaam

 

K-Dot Da Phenaam (Cameron McCoy)

Some people in this world attempt to do what they love. A select few are born to do it, and do it well. In Detroit where the streets are constantly pulsing with life, one man is making it pulse with the beat of music. Cameron McCoy, or what the industry and the streets know as K-Dot Da Phenaam, was born and raised in Detroit in the early 80’s where VCRs, CD players, boom boxes were in style and MTV were starting to help push music even further. Music wasn’t foreign inside the McCoy household either, having a big impact on many of his family members. Several of them, including both his parents, were musicians and singers.

“My family has a rich tradition in music. Music is in my blood, the pulse of my heart. My great-great uncle and aunt played with live bands that toured with the Motortown Revue in the 1960s, parents played instruments (father played trumpet and briefly sang in a group, mother played clarinet and piano) and so many other family members intertwine music with their lives. I hear, I see it, I feel, I breathe it in my life.”

Starting at the age of two banging on pots and pans with what one of his uncles stated he did with “rhythm,” McCoy participated in the school choir in 1st grade and started to feel like he had some talent in 3rd grade. As his mind expanded to the different arts, so did his curiosity to perform. At the age of 11, he participated in his school’s talent show and won second place, singing the Tevin Campbell hit, “I’m Ready.” Even though he had no worked out routine and was “nervous enough to be fidgety but not nervous enough to not perform,” he gave in to the adrenaline and stated got a lot of attention after the show.

“At that time that song was hot and so the little girls sang along and afterwards, five or six girls ran backstage and gave me a hug.”

From there he went on to study and play music in high at M.L. King High School under the direction of Berry L. Greer. He also began battle rapping there, amassing a 27-3 record over the years. Wanting beats for his raps, the local producers to him either weren’t good enough or wasn’t giving a good price so he decided to make his own starting at the age of 16. His first pieces of music equipment were a 64-key Yamaha keyboard that he got for Christmas and a boom box from an aunt who left it for him in her will.

“It was the biggest box under the tree and I couldn’t figure out what it was because it wouldn’t shake. I thought it was BB gun or pellet gun and I was scared to drop it.”

Enjoying the keyboard more than the new video games and clothes that Christmas, he continuously played on it, having the feeling that, “I can finally build something from this.”

With his goals in sight, he continuously worked with the equipment until he upgraded to computers four years later as well as upgrading and expanding his customers to underground artists around Detroit, Memphis and some in Virginia. Starting with the name K.O. Kid then K-Dot, the final name adding “Da Phenaam” after his brother described him as a phenom, a musical genius, and put the two together. Being an artist for Kortyard Entertainment since 2000, he realized that the need for beats were more in demand than his raps so he became more of an in-house producer for the label.

 

 

 

 

“I understood the label needed beats. I wanted to be a go to guy…it gave me good practice to work with artists with different goals and aspirations…as the label grew, I put down my own aspirations to become a producer…the goal is much bigger than the individual.”

In his spare time, he also explored poetry. A big fan of Def Poetry Jam, McCoy was fascinated by the way artists did poetry in the slam poetry.

“I listened to the topics from the slam poetry. It was so rhythmic and intense. It was so different than regular poetry. The cadences, the pauses, the emotion of it were just so raw.”

With all of his activities with the arts, he never forgot about education. After graduating high school, he went to several schools in the Midwest and around Michigan. He is currently studying Sociology, and is set to finish in May with a bachelor’s degree in that study and continue into grad school. Social work is another passion that in part was influenced by his parents who “dealing with social work and bringing it home sparked the passion.” He worked with after school programs and high schools to help students who were labeled “at risk.”

“You gotta have a passion for it and willing to listen because sometimes they come from a background that you’re not familiar with such as abuse and neglect. You have to treat each situation like it’s brand new, no situation are exactly alike.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But of course like any good story, there are some tough parts. On Feb. 23, 2007, McCoy was involved in a bus accident that he stated changed his life forever but also saved a life. During the accident, a woman was being flung to the front of the bus where she would have been killed. With quick thinking, he jumped out and caught her but in doing so he also severely injured his left shoulder and right wrist. During that summer, he had to have three surgeries. The first to stabilize his wrist with pins and a plate, the second to remove the pins but keep the plate and the third was arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder. Even though it was a heroic act, he doesn’t think of it as one and feels that he “did what had to be done when it had to be done.” The injuries had a major impact on his music for a while due to even after the surgeries he still doesn’t have full flexion and rotation of his wrist and his arm is liable to hurt at any time, “really badly.” This sometimes hinder with piano playing and writing but McCoy is determined not to ruin his goals.

After developing KitCH'N Muzik, LLC in 2005, as an imprint for his beats (coming up with the name as a metaphor about how everyone has to go to the kitchen to either get a quick bite or soul food to stick to the ribs), he has sold beats as little as $20 and as much as $300, depending on the project. He is very serious about business and states he will work with “anyone who is about making good music” but not with “divas” but he doesn’t consider himself too demanding when it comes to producing for artists. Using mostly original beats with the occasional sampling when needed, he continues to be balanced in school and producing with his main goals to be successful as a producer as well as social work with children. Very quiet in nature (due to the fact that he’s always thinking about the next beat), he enjoys in his spare time reading, watching basketball, playing pool, exercising and playing chess.

 

 

 

 

With his entire family for support, he feels he still have some things to do before he feels successful.

“Biggest challenges are: becoming the kind of man I can be proud of, the kind of son my parents can smile upon and in music, growth beyond where I’m at.”

Already experimenting with jazz and classical due to the different chords that are used for those genres, he feel he is going to continue to grow in education and music but never wants the exposure of the full limelight.

“I never was comfortable with the spotlight but felt I was destined to be a star that I can shine without all the extra added press.”

A list of artists he has worked with includes: M.U. (Misunderstood), Young Blizzle, Rashawn, Main Event, K-Bullet, Pharaoh, Phyer (Fire), MJ, Fresh, Vic Numin, Maverick, Blanco, Scooby, Chemotherapy, Cartier, Cash Boy Mafia, & LYRX (Lyrics). He will be doing upcoming track/album production work with: M.U., Young Blizzle, Phyer, Vic Numin, Cartier, and Cash Boy Mafia.

He also has his own debut album entitled “Concrete Notebook” that features production from Chronicz, M.U., Killumall, and himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links to where fans can reach me:
http://www.rocbattle.com/Chef_KDot
http://www.soundclick.com/kitchnmuzik
http://www.twitter.com/Chef_KDot

 

Contact info:
kitchnmuzik@gmail.com - direct email

 

 

Thank you goes out to:

Main writer: S. Jernigan, with contributions from M. Copeland