Shawn A Campbell

Shawn Campbell is a Grammy nominated producer/songwriter/composer. He has produced and written songs for Missy Elliott,Cody Simpson, Jay-Z, Avant, Chris Brown, Foxy Brown and many others. As a music executive, he has worked on compositions for major and independent labels, as well as for film and TV.
Born November 17, 1980 to an African-American minister and Irish-American missionary, Shawn Campbell is the oldest of 6 siblings. He was born in St Paul, Minnesota. When he was 16, his family moved to Virginia Beach, Va. One year later, his father Bill Campbell died suddenly, leaving his mother Peggy to raise the young family.
Early Years As a member of a local rap group called the "Poetic Prophets", Shawn Campbell was first introduced to music production by DJ Greg Placides and mutual friend Chad Hugo of the now-legendary music production team the Neptunes. After several years of working as an electrical apprentice for the Union in Virginia, Shawn decided to abandon the trade and pursue a career in music. He took a job as the head engineer at local recording studio Fast Trax recording and spent a year learning the craft there.
In 2002 Shawn met Marshall Leathers, a local piano player interested in becoming a producer. They quickly formed a music production team called the Arkitects and began to work feverishly through the summer to build up a catalogue of songs. Marshall was still in school so during the summer of 2003 Shawn decided to throw caution to the wind and move to New York City so as to see what kind of work he could drum up for the Arkitects.
Starting Out Shawn Left Virginia Beach and arrived in New York with 13 dollars in his pocket. He carried a list with him of things that he needed to accomplish before winter set in. First among these things was to get a job at Sony Music Studios. He had noticed during a visit there that all of the artists that he wanted to produce for frequented the Manhattan studio. Second, he needed to find a place to live before the bitter cold set in. After being homeless for a month and sleeping on a park bench in the flat iron district, Shawn Campbell finally convinced Tony Drootin, manager of Sony Music Studios to hire him as an assistant in the mic locker running coffee and wrapping cables.
He was elated. It was during his brief stint at Sony Music Studios that Shawn Campbell first bumped into a Def Jam recording executive and was able to convince him to get in the studio with then Def Jam artist Jink tha Juvy. Jink was a protégé of the famed Russell Simmons. Within a matter of weeks after being hired at Sony, Shawn had managed to secure the Arkitects first placement. They recorded and produced the song "Off Tha Hook' which was featured on DJ Clue's mixtape and subsequently released on the "Cradle to the Grave" Soundtrack; a movie starring DMX and Jet LI.
The years 2001 to 2004 were a whirlwind period for Shawn and the Arkitects. They began to build a buzz in the New York music scene and were eventually wooed by Sony music publishing executive Rich Christina. Soon a bidding war ensued between Sony music publishing, Famous music publishing and EMI music publishing. Eventually, the Arkitects inked a deal with EMI music publishing under the helm of then President of West Coast creative, Big Jon Platt.
It was also during this time that the Arkitects were given a writers room at Sony Music Studios. They occupied it for about a year. While there, they created compositions for and recorded with Neyo, Chris Brown, Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson, Chenelle and the Clips.
After a meteoric rise and much speculation of greatness for the Arkitects, Shawn Campbell suffered a reversal of fortunes. He had been embroiled in a nasty custody battle for his son Shawn Campbell Jr. In 2007 he won custody and moved his son with him to Yonkers, NY. This development was too much for his live-in girlfriend of the time and Shawn found himself a single father in the music business. It became nearly impossible for him to attend the many late night sessions and he was reluctant to bring his son around the studio environment.
At the same time the Arkitects work began to wane and money that was due to them from previous records had not been paid. Shawn and his son moved from the condominium in Yonkers overlooking the Hudson to a room in the Bronx and a couple of months later found themselves with no place to live. After spending a few nights at Sony Music Studios, Shawn decided it was best for his son that they left New York for a time. This was difficult as he still had hopes of pursuing his dream but it had become untenable. In the fall of 2006, he left New York and moved to Orlando Florida to be with his family and regroup. After a couple of months in Florida, Shawn and his son moved to Ellicott City, MD.
In December 2007, the Arkitects discovered that a record they had submitted to Atlantic RecordsA&R Mike Caren for Missy Elliott had been chosen for her next single. Several months later, the song, now entitled "Ching a Ling" hit radio. When the song had hit radio, Shawn was driving a cab in Baltimore. Upon hearing the record, he pulled over to the side of the road and cried. The song immediately took hold at Urban radio and was soon heard everywhere that winter.
The 3D video premiered on MTV's TRL and BET's 106 and Park. It went on to peak at #11 on the Billboard hot rap tracks. The video made history as the first 3D music video on TRL and later went on to take the top position on BET's 106&Park. The song later featured Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Ciara. In 2008, it was featured in Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 100 singles of the year.
A couple of weeks before the release of "Ching A Ling", Marshall Leathers called Shawn and informed him of his desire to pursue his music on his own. After a couple of long discussions, the Arkitects agreed to split. They had been hired by Capitol records recording artist Avant to do a session in Chicago and because they didn't want to alarm the artist or his management, went to the sessions as individual producers but presented themselves as still working together. Shawn was in Chicago for 2 days, and wrote and produced a record entitled "Senuality" for Avant. This would be the last time the Arkitects ever worked together.
Shawn spent several months reformulating his sound. He had, as an Arkitect, specialized in hip hop and R&B music. His true passion had always been pop. He stepped away from music production and began to go to the library and read books on music theory and chords. That summer he taught himself to read music. Not having the energy to spend another 5 years rebranding himself as a solo producer, he decided that he was no longer interested in just selling beats or tracks. He theorized that the true success for a producer was found in artist development.
In August 2009, Shawn began scouring Youtube and Myspace in earnest for artists to develop and shop to record labels. Not able to find anything that moved him, he opted to clear his head by learning how to play one of his favorite songs, Justin TimberLake's "Cry Me a River". As the Youtube tutorial for the song loaded, he noticed a side bar of a young Australian named Cody Simpson playing the same song. Sensing great talent and potential, Shawn immediately reached out to Cody's parents Brad and Angie Simpson. Within a month's time, Brad and Cody Simpson arrived in Frederick, Maryland to work with Shawn on a demo. During the week that they were in the states, Cody and Shawn recorded several songs. In November 2009, after returning to Australia, Cody asked if he could post his very first song "One" on his Myspace page. Shawn agreed and on Nov 1, Cody posted it on Myspace.
Within a month's time on Youtube, Cody's song became one of the most viewed in the world. With only three songs recorded and a huge demand suddenly there for Cody's music, Shawn requested that the family return to record some more songs. In what was supposed to be a two-day visit to New York, Cody Simpson was courted heavily by Def Jam Records, Sony Music, Atlantic Records and Jive. They ended up having to stay in New York for over a week.
After meeting Music Executive Peter Thea at Jive, Sony Music Chairman Rob Stringer and Atlantic records Chairman Craig Kallman, Shawn Campbell and the Simpsons flew to LA for one last meeting with Atlantic A&R Mike Caren. It was during this meeting that Shawn Campbell and the Simpsons became convinced that Atlantic was the right choice. Mike Caren's musical vision for Cody was the deciding factor. After several months of negotiations, Cody Simpson signed to Atlantic Records.
Currently, Shawn Campbell is executive producer and A&R along with Mike Caren for the Cody Simpson's debut album. He is splitting his time between Frederick, Maryland and Los Angeles, California.
His home is in Maryland with his wife Alexandria and son Phoenix.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu