Cainon Lamb

Cainon Renard Lamb (born March 22, 1978), professionally known as Lamb or Lambo, is a Grammy-nominated, American record producer, composer and songwriter from Miami, Florida. He has worked with the likes of Beyoncé, SWV, Missy Elliott, Monica, Keyshia Cole and Jazmine Sullivan. In 2017, Lamb made his rapping debut on colleague Missy Elliott's single "I'm Better".

Early life

A native of Miami, Florida, Lamb's involvement with music started in the church, as a drummer in the church band. As a youth, Lamb continued to develop his musical talents and excelled in sports, particularly football. He earned a full scholarship to Florida A&M University and became an All-American wide receiver for the FAMU Rattlers football team. During his college years, Cainon Lamb was given an MPC aka "Beat Machine" as a gift from his late mother Regina T. Lamb. He utilized his musical background to create music for his local gospel rap group called Against da Grain.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, Lamb went on to play professional arena football with the Tallahassee Thunder and Florida Firecats. During his Firecats tenure as a record-breaking wide receiver, Lamb and his team won the ArenaCup Championship in 2004.

Music career

In 2004, Lamb's music caught the ear of Grammy Award-winning artist/producer/songwriter Missy Elliott who was given a beat CD through Lamb's affiliation with Elliott's Goldmind artist Lil Brianna. That same beat CD contained a track which became Lamb's first major song placement—American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino's 2004 debut album Free Yourself.

After retiring from football in late 2005, Lamb and Elliott went on to work with artists that included Monica, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Missy Elliott, Keyshia Cole, Jazmine Sullivan, Trina and Jagged Edge.

In 2007,Lamb produced his first #1 record with Keyshia Cole's Grammy-nominatedsingle "Let It Go". In 2008, Lamb went on to produce "Need U Bad"—Jazmine Sullivan's chart-topping debut single. He also produced "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)", the lead single from Jazmine's sophomore effort—Love Me Back. In addition to producing songs on Monica's 5th studio album The Making of Me, in 2010 Lamb produced 3 songs for Monica's 6th studio album Still Standing. While producing Monica's #1 hit single "Everything to Me", Lamb made his television debut on the December 8, 2009 episode of Monica's BET reality television show "Still Standing".

In 2011, Lamb started his own company—Lambo Music Group.

In the same year he co-produced the track "Countdown" by Beyonce, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Dance Club/Play Songs Chart. In an interview with Leslie Moore, Lamb revealed, "I was in the studio and I was listening to Boyz II Men. The song, “Uhh Ahh” starts with a countdown of '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'..." Lamb added his own touches to the sample and started a beat. Lamb's sent the song over to his publisher Big Jon Platt who played the track for Beyonce. "[Platt] told me Beyonce started bouncing up and down, dancing when the countdown came on. She started dancing, bouncing, moving all kind of ways."

2017 opened with Lamb making his first rapping debut on colleague Missy Elliott's single "I'm Better".

2004

Fantasia — Free Yourself

• 04. "Selfish (I Want You to Myself)"

2006

Fantasia — Fantasia

• 08. "I'm Not That Type"
• 10. "Two Weeks Notice"
• 13. "Sunshine"

Monica — The Makings of Me

• 06. "Doin' Me Right"
• 07. "Raw"

Ruben Studdard — The Return

• 09. Ain't No Party

2007

Keyshia Cole — Just like You

• 01. "Let It Go" (featuring Lil' Kim & Missy Elliott)

2008

Step Up 2: The Streets (soundtrack)

• 02. "Shake Your Pom Pom"
• 08. "Ching-a-Ling"

Jazmine Sullivan — Fearless

• 02. "Need U Bad"
• 08. "Dream Big"

2009

Crystal Aikin — Crystal Aikin

• 06. "Love Him"

Billy Blue — Trap Certified (mixtape)

• 22. "Story of My Life"

2010

Monica — Still Standing

• 03. "Everything to Me"
• 06. "If You Were My Man"
• 11. "Blackberry"

Jazmine Sullivan — Love Me Back

• 01. "Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)"
• 07. "Excuse Me"

Flo Rida Only One Flo (Part 1)

• 09. "Momma"
• Puzzle (promo single)

Trina — Amazin'

• 10. Always (featuring Monica)

2011

Beyoncé — 4

• 09. "Countdown"

Brianna — Face Off (mixtape)

• 03 — "I'm Super (Kim)"
• 05 — "Marilyn Monroe"

Jagged Edge — The Remedy

• 03. "Baby"
• 06. "I Need A Woman"

Git Fresh — Eat It Up (mixtape)

• 04. "She Be Like"

Isaac Carree — Uncommon Me

• 13. "Navigation"

2012

SWV — I Missed Us

• 01 "Co-Sign"
• 02. "All About You"
• 03. "Show Off"
• 04 "Everything I Love"
• 05. "Do Ya" (featuring Brianna Perry)
• 06. "The Best Years"
• 07. "I Missed Us"
• 08. "Better Than I"
• 09. "Keep You Home"

Monica — New Life

• 01. "New Life (Intro)"
• 05. "Big Mistake"
• 08. "Until It's Gone"
• 12. "New Life (Outro)"
• 13. "Breathe"
• 14. "In 3D"
• 16. "Anything (To Find You)" (featuring Rick Ross)

Mandy Capristo — Grace

• 01. "Allow Me"

2014

Missy Elliott — Block Party

• 00. "Rather"

2015

Jay Burna — TBA

• 00. "Mood"

2017

Missy Elliott — TBA

• 00. "I'm Better" (featuring Lamb)