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Sometimes fame develops character. Houston rap music purists may remember Chamillionaire as an abrasive, energetic emcee that bragged about money, women and poll position amongst the would-be class of 2005 H-Town stars. Today, as the most financially successful of that grouping, Chamillionaire looks back and says, “That’s not me.”
The 27 year-old released his Ultimate Victory to the masses less than two weeks ago, a companion to 2005’s platinum-selling Sound of Revenge. Revenge is no longer Cham’s motivation, and whatever victory he’s championing, may be taking place spiritually, rather than on the charts. After dismal first week numbers, perhaps gasping in the wake of 50 Cent and Kanye West’s free-for-all, Chamillionaire isn’t blaming his label, he’s not crying foul to bootleggers and he’s not dissing anybody for that push. Instead, the poised rapper reminds HipHopDX readers that this is the same place his journey-to-platinum began in 2005.
Rather than candy paint, Chamillionaire speaks candidly about candy-coated medicine in his music, late producer Disco D, addiction, and when he’s not truly being himself. While fickle fans laugh at the charts, Chamillionaire is gassing up for his victory lap.
DX: Today’s rap fan reads Soundscan. I can’t ignore the fact that your first week numbers were less-than-stellar. What is your reaction to the numbers you saw?
C: Honestly, man, it sounds crazy, but I’m not as disappointed. I’m not. I’m not worried about first week numbers, and I know a lot of artists say that, but I really mean it. I remember my last album [Sound of Revenge], it’s like deja-vu: I came out not doing as good as some of the industry people would have expected, but I went on the road, I grinded it out, I had a backup plan, and it worked. People saw me go platinum last time. Yeah, I went platinum and I had a hit in “Ridin’ Dirty,” but it took a whole year; I stayed on the road for a whole year. I didn’t even go home. This is like the beginning of that phase again. I even hear some people say, “You’re a bigger artist, you don’t have to go through that no more.” Even the big artists, we’ve got to do it now. Hip Hop, as we know it, is completely changing. The Kanye [West] and 50 Cent [competition] was cool, but people have even more and more fascination with first week numbers. Labels, fans, artists, everybody gives up on a CD after seven days of sales – a CD that you worked on for a whole year. To me, that’s ridiculous.
Our goal was to make a dope album. If we can get plenty of people to say the album’s dope, then that’s the first part. Last time, people wasn’t saying my album was good. They just liked “Ridin’ Dirty.” So now I tried to give them a whole bunch of songs that they like. People said I had Pop or crossover success, but I don’t care, I would’ve given that record to anybody when I first started, and nobody could’ve told me that record was gonna be that big. It wasn’t a Pop-sounding record, it just ended up crossing into the Pop world. I kept the same formula this time. I went in there and made better music – which I feel this album’s 10 times better, and then I’m gonna go out there and push it.
DX: Look at Nina Simone or Sam Cooke. Both are remembered as pioneers and iconic artists in Jazz and Soul respectively, but they never had the Motown sales. Some of Hip Hop’s most heralded artists, whether UGK, O.C. or Jadakiss never had the sales, but they have the integrity. You’ve experienced both sales and acclaim. Would that be okay with you, to have a bigger legacy than chart appearances?
C: That’s real! I actually look at the game now, and there’s a lot of people who might have the biggest audience at radio or the biggest ringtones, but it’s so many people that came and gone and were disposable, not remembered. Even now, when I speak, I speak with a purpose; you’re gonna remember what I said. Instead of just making words rhyme to rhyme, nowadays, people will say, “Chamillionaire’s too preachy.” To me, that’s cool, ‘cause there’s only a select few people that will say something nowadays. I can’t think of nobody since ‘Pac that stood for something. When I get up there to talk, at least they’ll hear something from me. When I get up at an awards ceremony, I’ll say something real. If I get on TV, I’ll say something real. To me, that legacy is a lot better. When I’m all said and done, people are gonna look back at Chamillionaire.
DX: Sometimes it’s bigger than Hip Hop. You A&R’d a lot of this album yourself. One of the producers you worked with was the late Disco D. He probably got his biggest hit in “Rock Star” with you and Lil’ Wayne. He’s not here to see it. How does that sit with you, even if you never personally met him, that somebody that worked on this album didn’t live to hear it?
C: It’s crazy ‘cause people think that the version on the album is produced by him, but it’s actually not. I’m the only one that has the original version of his song with me and Lil’ Wayne, ‘cause when I sent it to him, he rapped on the original version of the track that Disco D did. The whole process of that was crazy. My album went through different phases of coming out. It was supposed to come out a while back but didn’t; people don’t understand the behind-the-scenes. Even when [Disco D] committed suicide, it was like, “Man, what am I supposed to do now? How do I tell Lil’ Wayne to rap on a new song?” Everybody around me, people liked the song; this was before the “rock star” trend even happened. Imagine that happening – he committed suicide, then I got to negotiate with his parents over their son that passed away, and I don’t even feel comfortable doing that, and then there’s all these other “rock star” songs coming out. Dealing with all of that, I could’ve said, “Man, this is messed up,” but I just dealt with it

Initially], Disco D hit me through Myspace. He was surprised that I hit him back. He told me that as far as southern rappers, he felt that me and Lil’ Wayne was his favorites, and he was excited by the fact that me and [Wayne] were doing his track together. I only had the two-track, I didn’t have the full files. After that, I found out that he committed suicide. I was trippin’ off that, like he seemed so happy. I wouldn’t expect that. Then his friends hit me and told me that he had put the files up on a server, and we logged on, and got the files. It was like he was leaving the files for me or somethin’. A lot of people don’t know this story. People hit me tryin’ to get the old version of the song and stuff, but I don’t feel comfortable releasing that version.
DX: In last month’s XXL, the interview mentioned that you recently quit drinking Red Bull because you sensed an addiction. Rappers love drinking, smoking, whatever. How do you see the correlation between fame and addiction?
C: Man, that’s real. It can change a lot of stuff. It can change you, it can change the people around you, it really does. Even me, I’ve changed a little bit because of fame. When you get on Forbes’ ["Hip Hop Cash Kings"] and stuff, man, people start treating you differently. Just now, we just walked through Canadian customs and the guy there was asking me all kinds of questions about that stuff – my ringtones, just for us to get through Canadian customs. It can be a real addiction where you can start to soak that in and love it a little too much, but you can become this big monster, somebody who’s not in touch with reality. Whatever your weakness is – if it’s women, if it’s money, if it’s drugs – there’s only a few that can stay completely grounded. My thing is, I never really wanted to be famous like that, so I look at it from a distance. I still haven’t adjusted yet. I think that’s a good thing.
DX: A bonus song on the album is “Still Countin’ Cash.” You’re humble, but you’re also from a Houston culture that’s known for bragging. How do you balance both?
C: It’s kinda hard. You’ve got to balance it out, that’s my thing. Money doesn’t make me or break me, but I think there’s so many people attached to the younger version of me. When I was young, I was rappin’ about money and didn’t have it. They all kind of expect me to rap that same way. Now people will be like, “Chamillionaire changed,” but it’s only because they’re not attached to who I am now. Now, to give them what they want, I have to give them a little bit of the old me, which is rappin’ about money and braggin’, when the real me, if you look me in the eye and ask me if that’s me, that’s not me. I’ve got paper; I’ve got paper for real now! But I just don’t feel comfortable braggin’ to people about money. That’s not even cool. The old me would’ve really just dissed somebody. Me, I’m growing into somebody who’s not comfortable being like that. Nowadays, I just hide the medicine inside the candy. I still do the braggadocious style. When I do Mixtape Messiah CDs, I just try to randomly say a whole bunch of craziness, ‘cause I know that’s what they want to hear. You just gotta give ‘em what they want.
DX: You’re one of the most grounded Hip Hop stars of today. What is your favorite book, or something that you soak up wisdom from?
C: Music industry books, man. My problem is, man, I want to be so successful that I might think too much. I want to know everything - when it comes to my project, my finances, everything. It was hard for me to get a business manager. I’m the person that tries to go in Bank of America and do every little thing with my money. Sometimes the best businessman needs to delegate duties to other people. That’s my hardest thing. I try to do everything myself because I want to know it all. There’s so many artists who know nothing about their contracts. You could ask them about ASCAP or publishing or per-diems and stuff, they’ll have no idea. If I’m gonna be in this rap world as a businessman, then I’m gonna know as much as I can. I read books like that. Then there’s a lady named Wendy Day. She got Rap Coalition, and it’s really informative on industry stuff. She might not even know it, but I get a lot of my guidance from her too. When it comes to fiction or stuff like that, I don’t get down, ‘cause I’m all about real life.
DX: Hip Hop Honors is this week. If Chamillionaire was on the awards committee, who would you vote in?
C: To me, if I could, I’d take 2Pac. I know a lot people would randomly say that, but ‘Pac wasn’t really as big when he was alive. He got big after passed away, and people start to see the message behind his stuff. I think he epitomized everything. There was a bad side, a good side, everything. He was somebody everybody could relate to. He’d spit at the camera and do crazy stuff. I really think there was a motive behind the madness. Look at the Thug Life thing. He got so powerful to where he had all the thugs listening to his words, almost like a preacher. He always hid the medicine inside the candy and gave ‘em “Dear Mama” and stuff. I feel like there was a purpose behind him. A lot of people make words rhyme just to make them rhyme, and I think it was a lot deeper with him.
If it had to be somebody who’s alive, somebody who I think don’t get a lot of credit is Will Smith. It sounds crazy, but he did his thing rappin’, and what he’s doing now, as far as movies and being a role-model, to me, I’m impressed by what he’s done with his career.

source:hiphopdx

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Bkjj11

LOL 50 Cent said Chamillionaire don't sell records and guess what, 50 WINS AGAIN. Shit cham has to understand, if u dont sell on majors, u gonna go 2 an Indie once ya time is up.

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Central Intalect V.2

props cham keepin it 100% authentic

that-damn-good

people arent gonna remember first week sales 10 years from now theyre gonna remember the quality of the music and ultimate victory is quality hip hop end of story
"Put some nonsense out, and I bet you this one will stick/I put real music out, and I’m probably gonna catch a brick.”

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_widen

"50 said THIS, 50 said THAT".. Man, you take everything 50 says as it's bound to or should happen. 50 is just a cocky ignorant man, and if he said that Cham wouldn't sell any records (which I can't remember him saying, only about Master P) it was just a coinsidence. And he's just hating..

And for the record, 50 makes good music, but Cham is a way better rapper.

And since you're with 50, bashing on other rappers CD sales and such, let me just ask you this. How do you go from selling 1,14 million in four days to not even selling 1 million copies in a month on your next CD? You always talk about how everybody flopping and this n that. Soak it in...

And I know you're gonna say "50 DIDN'T FLOP, HE'S ALREADY PLAT". Well, Game is platinum too but ya'll went how do you go from selling 5 million to 1? Well, how do you go from 9.8 to 1?

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U.S. Sales: Creepin On A Come Up 2,766,000/ E. 1999 Eternal 6,120,000/ The Art Of War 1,600,000/ The Collection V.1 1,250,000/ BTNHResurrection 1,515,000/Thug World Order 440,000/ Greatest Hits 880,673/ Thug Stories 95,000/ Strength & Loyalty 465,123

_widen

Preach! My thoughts exactly.. Where is that line from anyway?

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U.S. Sales: Creepin On A Come Up 2,766,000/ E. 1999 Eternal 6,120,000/ The Art Of War 1,600,000/ The Collection V.1 1,250,000/ BTNHResurrection 1,515,000/Thug World Order 440,000/ Greatest Hits 880,673/ Thug Stories 95,000/ Strength & Loyalty 465,123

that-damn-good

from The Ultimate Victory (outro)

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Rep

Props to Cham for not sellin' out. He could easily do the same garbage music everyone else doin. Shit, he'd probably do it better then them and sell better then them if he did, but he'd rather make everything he say count for something. gotta respect that.

Florida_Nigga

All he did was sing on basically all the tracks

Central Intalect V.2

thats his style if know anything about him he's been doin that since 2000 with paul wall

that-damn-good

so singing on the hook means youre not a good artist? listen to the verses then talk

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Hakaroodi

ight propz...

supermanrb02

has 2 b the most garbage rapper ever. he let his wave cap hang out in the back

jman2245

one hit wonder...