~GS16~

Chamillionaire - Mixtape Messiah II
Album Review by: Jason Fleurant
Sun, December 31st, 2006



Ridin’ the waves to a successful 'Sound Of Revenge', Chamillionaire is playing Santa and returning his love to his fans as he gears up to claim his Ultimate Victory. Yes the lyrical beast with a heart of gold has given Hip-Hop a brand new free mixtape , chunk full of great music. The Messiah of the Mixtapes has return home, this time it’s not about revenge but more of a thank you letter to fans.

The Houston, Texas born MC has for a long time expressed his desire to make known that The South has more to offer and that they could produce lyrical masterpieces. Hakeem Seriki has done just that with his 2005 debut album “Sound Of Revenge”, going as far as reaching double platinum status and platinum sales with ring tones as well. But while everything was going right for King Koopa the hardcore Cham fans screamed that he seemed to have watered down a bit. So this time without money on his mind, he went into the studio and dropped one of the best mixtapes of 2006 free for fans.

The first Mixtape Messiah came out during a time when Chamillionaire had launch an full out assault on his former label (Swisha House) and the marquee players Mike Jones and Paul Wall. That mixtape was laced with furious diss tracks that damn near (if not) destroy his rivals. Now squashing the beef and becoming so successful the question to be ask is what Cham is going to be talking about now. Well as the screwed vocal sample leads into the soulful Jay-Z’s Dynasty instrumental on “Guess Who’s Back”, Chamillionator aims to set the record straight and address rumors. While he promised a ‘Beef’ free vibe this go around he did feel it necessary to put a local bootlegging company in check “company that was bootlegging said they was moving my thousands/ that’s as false as 50 (Cent) executive producing my album/ that’s as false as magazine writers that said I would fall/ that’s as false as me beefin’ with Slim and Trae, them my dawgs/ that’s as false as me having a problem with Paul/ I’m a problem, but the other problem I have is ya’ll”.

A lot of rappers instrumentals were slaughter during Mixtape Messiah II, but two that stand out belong to the two top dawgs of Hip-Hop Jay-Z and Nas. Chamillionaire via usage of clever metaphor claims the fall of Hip-Hop should be more blamed on the Corporate monster when he spits over Nas’ “Hip-Hop Is Dead”; “Pollution, I smell it in the breeze/ but let’s not try to get mad at the trees/ tell them all not to get mad at the leaves/ get mad at the idiots, planted the seeds”. Also taking shots at so-called hardcore gangster and whack rappers while alluding to the damage of technology to today’s music scene “the same rapper Die Hard/ Bruce Willis with a vest under the Izod/ wanna beat you, man I ain’t gotta try hard/ you getting beat by the internet and your Ipod” or “but rap is so whack, so I’m back to spit crack/ March 27th I’m back/ and that’s fact, so rappers that can’t rap it’s a wrap”.

The Messiah show’s everyone what he’s got over Hov’s Jus Blaze produced single. Ripping the live drums splash with his baritone flow and witty wordplay; “I got a new Lincoln, the top is getting airtime/ so they call it the Lincoln Intercontinental air lines/ Chamillitary’s the click and it isn’t fair I’m.../ too good they can’t see the flow, no ‘Air Rhymes’”. The only problem with this track is the appearance of Famous. While Famous holds his own, it’s hard to impress after Chamillionaire has risen the bar so high. Maybe they should of let him go first? ‘Answering Machine Prt 2’ has him flexing his skills over the sliky smooth beat that reminds me of the LL Cool J/ Boyz II Men collabo “Hey Lover”. Cham plays the smooth operator without sacrificing anything lyrically still offering gems lines like; “I can brag about how lovely my sex is/ but a word could not describe my lovin’ in a couple of seconds”.

The entire mixtape is how the kids say these day’s?... ‘pff’. The two highlights come back to back in the form of ‘Picture Me Rollin’’ and ‘Ridin’ Dirty Overseas’ feat Akon. On ‘Picture Me Rollin’ we hear a retrospective color changer looking back at some of the struggles he went through on the way to the top. “Had to get smart with this, study and sharpen it/ plot gets darker than thoughts in the coffin gets/ remember walkin’ in L.A. Reid’s offices/ had to walk outta their feelin’ that I wasn’t the ish/ but they didn’t owe me nothing, gave me no promises/ but the Industry is gonna have to see me/ I promise this/ Universal Records, I’m wrecking the list/ the crane couldn’t lift all my accomplishments”. I get the feeling Def Jam is kicking themselves in the ass for that one. ‘Ridin’ Dirty Overseas’ is a darker version of the hit single that spawned countless remixes. Linking up with “The Illegal Alien” Akon over a haunting melody aided with rain drops and police sirens giving the track a more sinister feel, Cham deals with the idea of a friend turning snitch; “Standing on the side of the freeway wishing they would just hurry up/ and I can see him walk up to me like he gonna put me in them cuffs/ I look at you, you look away like you feelin’ sick/ I’m going to jail for what a crime I didn’t commit/ I must admit I hate a snitch”. Going on to tackle the subject of driving under the influence and dedicating song to the slain groom Sean Bell. I’m not the biggest Akon fan but enjoyed him here, his voice gave the tack a Phil Collin’ “Feel It In The Air” tone.

Fans have been waiting on the return of The Messiah for a minute, and it was truly worth it. Chamillionarie offered Hip-Hop scripture in the form of quotables. If you doubted him before, you got to be as convince as Busta Rhymes was when he freestyled in the booth on Rap City. Chamillionaire has come along way and as he claimed on ‘Tryin’ To Change Me” he will remain who he is period. And that’s a humble man who delivers every time he touches the mic. “If Hip-Hop should die before I wake I’m a do more than just murder a mixtape” well you certainly murdered this one. A word of advice to people slacking on their game, The Truth from Texas is coming back so nobody drop nothing March 27th. Chamillitary Mayne!