Ice Ice Baby: Getting to Know Lord Kama, the Coldest from Cameroon
Lord Kama is the newest sound of Afro&B; a sound consisting of the rhythm + style of the core Afrobeats flare with the soul and vocal stylings of modern R&B. He’s jumping headfirst into full time musicianship with one goal — to take the unique sounds of Makossa and Bikutsi from Cameroon to the world.
His most recent single “Soo Cold” incorporates the influences of old Hip-Life feel of P-Square and D’Banj with an icy trap-R&B tone as he describes the story of a failed relationship. In Kama’s first print feature, we go deeper into his sound analyzing his unique sonic stylings. He discusses how he crafted his Afro&B sound and breaks down the real cost of being a new artist.
So my first thoughts when I heard Soo Cold was, of course the mood you were trying to convey, the feel of the song. It felt very reminiscent of the 2010's when there was still a heavy Hip-Life influence on Afrobeats.
Lord Kama: It’s crazy you mention that, because in terms of the music I’ve been listening to, I grew up on a whole lot of Cameroonian music but also Nigerian music. P-Square, Two-Face, D’banj — this is the music I’d consume while growing up alongside the classical or traditional Cameroonian Makossa and Bikutsi. I also took inspiration from all these older boy bands like Westlife, Michael Learns to Rock, Backstreet Boys. Take all that away and my music probably won’t be the way it is right now.
Lately the way I play with melodies — the way things sound in my head and how I formulate my songs now — it’s pretty much like a P-Square song back in the day. Like somewhat R&B-ish but still very traditionally African. That’s where I ask myself, “Okay do I want to sound like right now? Do I want to sound like back in the day? Do I want to sound like traditional Cameroon, or something new?”
LK: The whole Afro&B thing is just a recent realization. I don’t consume R&B much, so I don’t know how this sound just came about. But in terms outside of R&B, Afrobeats is fusing with many other genres. Couple of years ago, I saw this thing about an African rock band in South Africa or Kenya. Sometime either a year or two ago. I forgot the name, but it was, I’m talking heavy, like Kiss type rock. Yeah. And I was just like, these people are over here doing this thing and no one has an idea that they’re even existing.
As opposed to creating a new sound — which is not a bad thing — what I would like to do is find a way to make the traditional Makossa or Bikutsi sound more palatable in the way that the Nigerian sound has become the standard in Afrobeats. That’s what Burna Boy did, and that’s why he’s where he’s at right now. Because right now the way the current artists in Cameroon are doing it…it only stays in Cameroon.
How would you describe the Makossa or Bikutsi sound for someone who’s not Cameroonian?
LK: Rhythmic? You hear a lot of heavy guitar. That’s mainly what I remember, like I’d be on the bus going to the village with my aunt. I don’t know how old I was, but I heard these songs on the radio. I’d come back a week later and I’m singing those songs. People are looking at me like, how old are you? How do you know that song?
What are things that you kind of picked up from your surroundings?
LK: My mom was always singing over the weekend while she’s cooking, like some African gospel songs. And on the same days my older sister — a great singer — would sing all morning. Most of the modern day pop songs that I know now are from her singing. I remember one Saturday, I heard this song blasting while I’m trying to sleep. I guess that’s the day Dorobucci had dropped she had that song on repeat.
Without my sister, I wouldn’t know that song. I wouldn’t know many like Pop and R&B songs and artists. The more she sang, the more I started singing the songs to myself. And then I’m singing at work and people are telling me, “Oh you sing?” So my sister played a role in me learning how to sing.
Did you realize you wanted to make music young or when you were older?
LK: It’s relatively new, like as new as last year. It got to the point where all I did was work and music because I’m here by myself. Last year was when I really said I wanna invest in this. I’m spending this much time and putting this much money into the art, I might as well figure out how well I can do it. How far I could take it.
Where did you grow up when your sister was singing all those times on the weekends?
LK: That was in the DMV. But originally I was in Cameroon and came to the States when I was 13. I was in Maryland up until like 2022, and then I moved to North Carolina.
Did you go to college for anything specific?
LK: I went to school for computer science. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Prince George’s Community College? Haha, I spent some time at PGCC. At that point, I was considering modeling and dancing. I could freestyle with any African song, Afrobeats or whatever. If I saw the choreo, I could learn it and do it.
Knowing you were into dance first makes me think you think about music differently; would you say that?
LK: I’m paying attention to the instrumentals, yes. But even as a former dancer, I’m not paying attention to the beat necessarily. When listening to a song, I’m paying attention to what type of rhyme scheme they used, what type of flow? What punchlines? Halfway through the song I’m like, oh shit… I just missed the actual song. So I have to restart the song to actually focus on the lyrics. I think that’s how the dancer in me listens to music. If it’s good, I just get carried away in the music.
So when it comes to lyrics, how did you start and how did you get better? Were you listening to other artists, were you into writing poetry?
LK: So I would write. I remember in high school, after school, these guys used to rap and make beats. Every now and then I was freestyling. This was 2012, 2013-ish. Fast forward to college, when Afrobeats started really coming out, I did a lot of covers. I’ll listen to a song and after the last verse of the chorus, it could be 8, 16, 32 count of instrumental while it fades out. I’ll just do a freestyle. Like those are my early videos on TikTok.
So I’ll do this and record it, and at some point I started to realize that I was lowkey writing lyrics and, you know, rhythm and melodies. Fast forward to when I actually started going to the studio with one of my other guys — I tried to figure out which of these freestyles can I use on this beat he’d play me. And how can I edit it to make it fit to the new rhythm and the new vibe? A lot of people write lyrics beforehand or throughout the day. But for me, I want to say my best are those songs which I often just listen to the instrumental the first time and just freestyle.
And being from Cameroon, do you speak the main language(s)?
LK: So Cameroon is bilingual. We’re talking about the main languages like English and French. The colonizers’ languages, right? But then we have dialects. I’m Bangwa, from the Southwest region. I understand Bangwa and I speak a little bit, but my speaking could be better. Like I said in Cameroon, I’d be on the bus with my aunt. The trips we took driving back to the village actually helped me understand and speak Bangwa. I’m still not fluent, but it’s one of those things where as I get older I want to get better at it. Even with a freestyle I did, I had to hit up my mom and ask “How do you say this?” I’m definitely trying to do something like what the Yoruba guys are doing, blending languages and still being marketable.
I want to bring recognition not just to my art, but also be the person to take Cameroon to that level. Burna Boy didn’t do it by himself, Davido didn’t do it by himself, Wizkid didn’t do it by himself. I play with R&B, but I’m still an Afrobeats artist. Part of the journey is figuring out when and how to start integrating the Bangwa, the Makossa, the Bikutsi.
Do you usually work with other producers or have you ever self-produced before or do you want to get into that?
LK: “Soo Cold” is a YouTube beat. But I would like to be getting into self-producing and self-production. The prices of beats or working with producers have gotten crazy. If you look at Kel P, this guy is working with Burna Boy and other big artists. I was watching a few interviews on him and he said he always wanted to do music but, he realized he could get into the industry faster and quicker as a producer. And then at some point he said “Okay, I want to start doing my own thing as a musician”, but also as his own producer.
When I first started doing music, I knew there was this whole thing about exclusivity and beat lease. So I’ll purchase the biggest package; the one that would come with unlimited streams, unlimited radio or video shows, and then you get the stems, right? But that’s a lot of money for someone who doesn’t have a lot of money. Starting from like $450 to like $600 just to get the stems. And then you still have to pay the mixing engineer to mix the shit. And in some situations, you might have to pay two, or three different people. My first single, I paid three different people to give me Trophy. That’s a lot of money that I’m just paying, paying, paying, paying. Fortunately, I’ve been able to network with some friends who have suggested producers who I’ve started working with.
I’ll try as much as I can not to use YouTube beats, but it’s a very big part of my creative process when I started music. It was so easy to go to YouTube and just listen to instrumentals, find one that I felt, download it, and start recording myself on it
So because we’re talking about “Soo Cold” — if you had to put that one song in a playlist of 3 to 4others of the same vibe, what would you put? What feels like “Soo Cold” to you?
LK: That is a good question since I’m already trying to pitch this song to playlists.
- Burna Boy — Last Last
- Omah Lay — Understand
- Burna Boy — Way Too Big
- Jazmine Sullivan ft. Bryson Tiller — Insecure
Stream Lord Kama’s newest release, “Outlaw” and follow him across socials — Instagram + Tik Tok!
