This R&B Singer Has Made a Lifelong Study of Human Behavior

There’s multi-hyphenates, and then there’s Dr. Cameron Parker.

He’s the executive director of Student Affairs at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He’s also an author, actor, athlete and R&B singer who goes by Cash Campain.

The focus of his work, in each of his roles, is relationships.

Campain’s day job as a college administrator involves understanding what affects people’s emotions, and “why people feel certain ways in certain situations.”

Campain, who studied business at Marin’s Dominican University, has found his niche in monitoring student morale and keeping in contact with alumni. “That’s where I started looking in-depth at human behavior,” he says.

Through that study, he’s learned a lot about himself — and it shows.

His knack for understanding humans is illustrated in his writing. His latest book, Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness, offers guidance to readers navigating toxic partnerships.

The pursuit of intimate connection, and the drama that often ensues, is also the focus of a web series he acted in, Reckless Behavior: The Series.

Relationships are also key to Campain’s music, particularly his latest album Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II.

On the standout track “Hannah Baker,” he addresses his relationship with himself, and issues of depression and suicidal thoughts. On “Hold Me Down” (featuring Stoni, T. Carriér & 318Tae), he offers a taste of fun ’90s R&B. And on “Infinity,” he sings over an acoustic guitar for what he calls “a real love song, mushy-gushy-type stuff.”

His various practices might seem different, but they aren’t too far apart, both practically and geographically.

“I’ve literally done a show at Cornerstone in Berkeley on a Thursday night,” Campain tells me in a phone interview. “And then the next day we’re back up here on campus,” he says, referring to UC Berkeley, just a backpack’s throw away from the music venue.

This past summer, while other school administrators took vacations or picked up side gigs to make ends meet, Cash Campain stepped off campus and into his creative bag.

In May he dropped his fourth R&B album, and in June published his third book.

He also started a nonprofit, the No More Pain Foundation, with his brother, the well-known lyricist Caleborate. The two launch their collaborative work with a book drive on Oct. 18, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda.

Born seven years apart on the same exact day, May 22, Campain and Caleborate share a tight bond.

“I always thank God that he’s a rapper and I’m a singer,” says Campain. Because of this, the two work well together, experimenting with melodies and pushing musical boundaries. “It’s really just always been complimentary,” says Campain. “That’s how our parents raised us,” he says, repeating his parents’ sage advice: “No matter what, that’s your brother.”

The duo, along with their sister and stepbrother, were raised in South Sacramento. As a kid Campain was interested in playing hoops and singing to impress his peers, but was introduced to entertainment by his father, actor and playwright William a Parker.

A thespian from California’s Central Valley, Parker would often travel for shows in Los Angeles and off-Broadway. But the state’s capitol is where he earned his reputation. “He became well-known as one of the biggest names in community theater in Sacramento,” says Campain.

But for a young Cash Campain, it was the process of watching his father behind the scenes, after his parents separated, that proved to be most influential.

“One of the earliest memories I have about love and relationships,” says Campain, “I saw my dad going through heartbreak when I was like 11, 12 years old,” he says. “I saw him lose his family, and he was trying to rebuild his life.” Now a father himself, Campain looks at the conversations they had, and understands that “my dad was hurting.”

Campain unearths some of those memories in his latest book.

“About 50% of Jamie’s background comes from my actual childhood,” says Campain of the book’s fictional protagonist.

Through the character of Jamie, Campain creates a world that’s relatable to anyone who’s experienced turbulent relationships. Although Jamie’s experience is romantic in nature, the story’s lessons can apply to family members experiencing depression, newly remarried parents or anyone learning to accept an unexpected sibling.

In the book, Campain digs deep into why relationships of all sorts become dysfunctional, by identifying harmful dynamics “that chip away at emotional safety, self-worth, and mental well-being.”

The key, he says, is ultimately about “recognizing toxic behavior.” Or, as he calls it in the book, “TUM — toxic, unhealthy, manipulative behavior.”

Once recognized, he asks a series of questions: what effect can it have on you? Where do you go from there? How do you not let it control you? Have you developed behaviors not based in trauma that help you get back to the best version of yourself?

To answer for himself, he had to look inward.

“I had to look at my own life,” says Campain, explaining that these questions led him down a path of looking at relationships, doing research, going to therapy and “just kind of collecting a whole bunch of notes,” he says matter-of-factly.

And now, he’s sharing these notes in the form of music and literature; as well as through conversations with students on UC Berkeley’s campus.

Cash Campain’s book ‘Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness’ is available here. His latest album ‘Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II’ can be found on on all streaming platforms. Campain and his brother Caleborate will host a book drive on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda.