chamillionaire

Early life and career

After his parents, a Muslim father and a Christian mother, split in his early teens, Chamillionaire settled in a notoriously dangerous inner-city neighborhood in North Houston.^{citation needed]} Rap and other forms of secular music, that his parents had highly opposed in their household, became very appealing to the young Hakeem Seriki. Inspired by local rap acts such as The Geto Boys, 8 Ball & MJG, and UGK, as well as other national acts such as N.W.A. and Public Enemy, Chamillionaire began to compose his own rhymes.

At a young age, Chamillionaire, along with fellow rapper and childhood friend Paul Wall, had decided to make music their careers. One day while promoting themselves at a Texas event, Paul Wall and Chamillionaire ran into Michael 5000 Watts, a popular mixtape DJ from the Northside. After proposing to do promotions for Watts' company, the Swishahouse, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall came to Watts' studio and convinced Watts to allow them freestyle on an intro to Watts' radio show on Houston’s 97.9 The Box. Watts, who himself was convinced to rap on the record, enjoyed the freestyle so much that he put the verses on one of his mixtapes. The freestyle became so popular in the streets that Chamillionaire and Paul Wall became regular staples on Houston's mixtape circuit, appeared on several of Watts' mixtapes, and became permanent members of Swishahouse.

Although Paul Wall and Chamillionaire were making much noise in the streets by rapping on Watts' mixtapes, they, along with several other members of the Swishahouse, became frustrated with the lack of money they were receiving from the mixtapes. After fellow member Slim Thug left the label, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall followed and started their own mixtape group known as The Color Changin' Click. Each successive mixtape released by The Color Changin' Click led to more business opportunities; the most notable of which being a contract to do a full album for Paid in Full Records. A one album contract was then negotiated between the Color Changin' Click and Paid in Full's label head, DJ Madd Hatta from 97.9 The Box, and the CCC's first album, Get Ya Mind Correct, would continue on to sell over 100,000 copies.

The sale of all these albums without the backing of a major deal caught the attention of several major labels wanting to sign Chamillionaire and Paul. Chamillionaire and his labelmates decided to remain independent, however, until the right deal came along. While working on his second album with the Color Changin' Click, Chamillionaire began to have creative differences with Paul Wall, so much so that it was decided that the two emcees should each release solo albums that would be packaged together. When Chamillionaire became dissatisfied with how things were being resolved, he left Paid in Full and his almost complete album after fulfilling his contractual obligations to focus on promoting his mixtape label Chamillitary instead.

Solo career

2005-2006 Mixtape Messiah to The Sound of Revenge

After being dissatisfied with Swishahouse and Paid in Full due to monetary disputes, Chamillionaire began releasing his own mixtapes to ensure that all the money he earned went to him. After releasing Mixtape Messiah in 2004, Chamillionaire signed a deal with Universal Records in early 2005.

Chamillionaire's eighth major solo release, entitled The Sound of Revenge, was released through Chamillitary Entertainment and Universal Records in November 2005. The album's lead single was entitled "Turn It Up" featuring Lil' Flip and was produced by Scott Storch. The second single, released in March 2006, entitled "Ridin'" features Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony & Play-N-Skillz, who produced the track, all make appearances in the video. Ridin' was so successful that it held the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks in a row [1] and helped drive The Sound of Revenge to platinum success.

R&B singer and friend, Natalie announced in a recent MTV interview that Chamillionaire will be shooting a video for the track, "Think I'm Crazy." She'll cameo in whilst traveling back and forth in between breaks to shoot the video for her first single "What You Gonna Do" with rapper and friend Bun B. However, Chamillionaire has since replaced "Think I'm Crazy" with Grown And Sexy as the next single. If "Grown and Sexy" proves another success, "Think I'm Crazy" might be released as the 4th single. Also, while not an official single, the bonus track "Grind Time" was used as part of the NBA Live soundtrack.

Chamillionaire recruits an impressive list of talent on his debut effort, including Lil' Flip, Bun B, Scarface, and Krayzie Bone, as well as in-demand producers Scott Storch (50 Cent), Mannie Fresh (Lil' Wayne, Baby, Juvenile) and Cool & Dre (The Game). But, it's his work with Atlanta studio kings The Beat Bullies (Big Boi/OutKast) that sets the tone for much of The Sound Of Revenge's diverse platform. "They understand me," Chamillionaire says of the in-house producers. "There are a lot of producers that have dope beats, but they don't know me as an artist. The Beat Bullies, being from Atlanta, can take it to the strip clubs, the streets and to the radio."

The album was recently certified platinum [2] by the RIAA, and a chopped and screwed version, screwed by OG Ron C, was released in February 2006.

Chamillionaire has lately been getting calls from a slew of artists who want to work or tour with him. So far, he's done verses for Baby and Lil Wayne's upcoming album, Like Father, Like Son, and worked with Joe, Young Buck and newcomer Jibbs [3]. Chamillionaire is also featured on Ciara's new single, entitled Get Up, which is included on the soundtrack for Step Up. Chamillionaire also makes appearances on DJ Khaled's album with Slim Thug and Trina on a track called "Candy Paint", on Frankie J's upcoming single "That Girl" with Mannie Fresh, and most recently, on Trick Daddy's new single "Bet That". A rumored collaboration between Chamillionaire and 50 Cent has also been officially confirmed. SOHH recently caught up with Chamillionaire during "MTV Video Music Awards" press forum and the Houston bred emcee revealed that him and the G-Unit honcho have worked on some material. "I bumped into 50 in NY a couple of weeks ago, and he hollered at me and said he wanted to do some stuff, next day Sha Money hit me up and put me on some records," explained Cham. "I really don't like to say nothing until it gets cleared, and everything goes through cause I don't like to say I'm a be on something and then get pulled off." "So yeah, I'm definitely been messing around with them," Cham continued. " They been showing love, and I've been messin' with his DJ, DJ Whoo Kid and Lil' Scrappy, he just shot a video, he's with G-Unit now and he put me in the video, so it's a good look," he added.

Chamillionaire is still turning heads in the hip-hop industry after winning the VMA for Best Rap Video, beating out veterans such as T.I., Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, and fellow new artist Yung Joc. On September 6, 2006, the ringtone of his song Ridin' was the first to be certified triple platinum, making it the highest selling master ringtone ever [4]. Despite these successes, he considers being spoofed by parody song writer Weird Al his greatest honor.

Controversy

• Chamillionaire is known to have issues with southern rapper Mike Jones, claiming that he is the reason Chamillionaire left Swishahouse, and going as far as devoting an entire disc of his 3-CD mixtape Mixtape Messiah to rapping about Jones, whom he calls "Dike Jones". He accused Mike of slander, and as a result the first CD is mostly insulting Mike Jones in songs like "Who They Want", "You Got Wrecked", and "Roll Call". Recently, however, Chamillionaire has contemplated working with Jones again and ending any friction between the two [5].

• Chamillionaire's younger brother Rasaq was allegedly jumped and punched in the back of the head by Paul Wall and his entourage at a nightclub. These claims were denied, and Chamillionaire denied that anyone was hurt at all. He also expressed his disappointment in Paul Wall, claiming that they "all used to be family", and expressing dismay in the state of affairs. While Chamillionaire and Paul Wall have since ended any friction toward each other (after performing Ridin' on BET's 106 & Park, Chamillionaire confirmed that he and Paul Wall had settled all problems and had no friction towards each other, citing that it had taken "so long" to get to where they were in their success), Chamillionaire has contemplated working with his estranged business partner again and even touring together [6].

Discography

Albums

• 2002: Get Ya Mind Correct (with Paul Wall)
• 2003: The Army (with The Color Changing Click)
• 2005: Controversy Sells (with Paul Wall)
• 2005: Chamillitary (with The Color Changing Click)
• 2005: Chamillionaire: Greatest Hits
• 2005: Chamillionaire: Greatest Hits 2
• 2005: The Sound of Revenge (Platinum)
• 2006: The Sound of Revenge (Screwed & Chopped)
• 2007: The Ultimate Victory [7]

Mainstream albums

Mixtapes

• 2004: Mixtape Messiah
• 2005: The Truth (with DJ Whoo Kid)
• 2005: Whut It Dew Vol. 1
• 2005: Da Bottom Vol. 2 (with DJ Ideal)
• 2005: Best Of... Continued
• 2005: Best Of... Continued 2 (with Judge Dredd & Stat Quo)
• 2005: Big Business (with Stat Quo)
• 2005: Man On Fire
• 2006: Mixtape Messiah 2

Singles

Trivia

• His name is pronounced with a K and not with a CH, being a portmanteau of chameleon and millionaire. It "represents the unique style that defines the talented urban artist, and his ability to change and adapt on the fly, forcing people to respect the true breadth of his talent"^{citation needed]}.
• He will be featured on the new Bone Thugs-N-Harmony album The Bone Thugs Story.
• He grew up in a strict household with his Muslim father and Christian mother, where secular music was banned until his parents split up in his early teens. Despite these settings, he considers himself a Christian.[9]
• Chamillionaire was on the original version of "Still Tippin'", but due to an argument with Mike Jones, the third verse was given to Paul Wall.
• Prefers to ride on buses over riding in airplanes.
• Chamillionaire's favorite album is Ridin' Dirty by UGK.
• On July 17, 2006, Chamillionaire announced via bulletin on his official MySpace page that American parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic has recorded a parody of "Ridin'" for his new album Straight Outta Lynwood (released on September 26, 2006). The parody, called "White & Nerdy" will feature a music video and will be the lead single from the album.
• Chamillionaire has recently stated on his MySpace that he has plans of a Chamillitary clothing Line.
• Chamillionaire won a moonman for 2006 best rap video for the song Ridin' at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
• His height is 5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Music videos

See also

• List of Rappers from Houston, Texas
• The Color Changin' Click
• Rasaq

External links

• Chamillionaire's fan site
• Chamillionaire at the Internet Movie Database
• Chamillionaire's Official Website
• Chamillionaire's MySpace Profile