Cameron Davenport became a part of the rap music scene in Norristown about two years ago. Originally he had been filming short movies and ads for college coursework and local clients when his cousin asked him to shoot a rap video for him.
“I never knew what direction this passion of mine was going to take me in, but I am doing so much now — getting my name out there and just seeing where this is all going to take me,’’ Davenport said. “I knew it was all going to come together, and I always told my mom that I had a plan.”
Davenport told his mom from the start that school wasn’t for him. He didn’t even enjoy high school, so he couldn’t understand why she wanted him to go to college. He already knew what he wanted to do with his life and he already had a plan, but he still ended up spending the first two years out of high school at Montgomery County Community College. Last year, after trying community college, he decided that he had been right all along, and college was definitely not for him. Today, just like he told his mother from the start, he is working on his plan.
“I couldn’t stay some place where I felt like they weren’t teaching me anything. I was ahead of what they were teaching in the courses, and I felt like it was holding me back,” said Davenport.
Davenport has a special talent and a creative eye for capturing and editing video.
Davenport, a graduate of Norristown Area High School, always knew what he wanted to pursue when he graduated from high school. And even though he didn’t like school, there was one class in school that helped him to discover what he wanted to do with his life forever.
“I thought when I took the Com Center class in 11th grade that it was just an easy way to get out of class and to walk around the hall with a camera interviewing people. I was just looking at getting out of class. I’ve liked playing with gadgets since I was a kid. I never realized that this class and a camera were going to change my life,” Davenport said.
After studying under John Doyle, a graduate and teacher of Norristown Area High School, who runs the Com Center, Davenport realized that the camera was made for him. Although Mr. Doyle taught both aspects of broadcasting in his Com Center course, Davenport hated broadcasting in front of the camera, but became a natural at being behind the camera.
“Mr. Doyle saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself when I was in 11th grade. He said I had a natural ability and a good eye,” Davenport said.
Soon Mr. Doyle had Davenport filming events for class, after school activities and later even in the theater Doyle owns in Norristown.
“I became obsessed. It quickly became a part of my life and I knew what I wanted to do with my life when many seniors in high school were still trying to figure it out,” Davenport said.
Davenport is doing exactly what he wants to do with his life today. He is currently working on a film with some people who saw his work online and were interested in hiring him to film and edit their movie. He works tirelessly on the weekends filming and spending entire days shooting the movie. He won’t get paid for this movie until it is completed, but the money doesn’t matter to him right now. He’s busy trying to make a name for himself.
His dream is to become a movie maker. He has hopes of soon moving to Atlanta where powerful people, such as Tyler Perry, operate and may be able to help him find realize his ambitions one day.
To pay his bills in between and to supplement the cost of his equipment, he has a job at Verizon, but Davenport also videotapes visuals for local rap artist in Norristown. He is helping to contribute to the hip hop artists who are chasing their dreams in Norristown.
“My cousin is good. He’s really talented. He knew what I did and he asked me to film a music video for him. I told him that wasn’t something I had ever really done, and he said that he trusted me. That was many videos ago,” Davenport said.
After seeing Davenport’s work on YouTube for the music video, he became the go-to videographer for many of the local Norristown rap artist videos. His work is respected by these artists.
The artists see in him the same thing the people who asked him to work on the movie saw in him. They see the same thing that his high school teacher Mr. Doyle saw in him. Davenport has a special talent and a creative eye for capturing and editing video.
His dream is to become a movie maker. He has hopes of soon moving to Atlanta where powerful people, such as Tyler Perry, operate and may be able to help him find realize his ambitions one day.
“I see big things for myself. This movie which is almost finished will be edited and then pitched to Amazon. If we can make that happen, a whole lot more people, and maybe the right people will be able to see my work,” Davenport says.
Meanwhile Davenport is happy being the go-to guy as a part of the visuals and being a part of the Norristown hip hop connection. He hopes that as people start to know his work more that they will look at all of his work and that he can help others who he has filmed in Norristown.
“I want everyone to be able to pursue their dream. If I can get mine, then I want others to have theirs too, and I hope that maybe I have made a contribution to another person’s dream.”
Lee Holmes is a fifth-year professional studies major with minors in journalism and business law. BH878969@wcupa.edu