Chamillionaire Is Getting Even Greener (With Cash)

 

Chamillionaire is one of a number of stars coming out of the Houston, Texas, area these days, and like most every rapper coming out of the South, he wants to prove that good rap does not have to come from just the East Coast or the West Coast. And Chamillionaire has done a pretty job at that, winning awards, becoming the CEO of his own company, and slinging number one hits onto the charts.

But what's up with that name? It's obviously a play off of chameleon and the word millionaire. And actually, according to the man himself, he used to just go by Chamillion. But he figured that the name Chamillionaire was more apropos because he was rich enough in talent that he could bring any style to suit the needs of a song or a moment. Like, he can either deliver Chamillionaire lyrics in rapid-fire pace, or he can slow things down to suit a more romantic mood.

It was this richness in talent that got Chamillionaire his first big breaks in Houston, after all. The story goes that Chamillionaire got to know Michael Watts, or 5000 Watts as he's known, who is a DJ and mixtape extraordinaire from Houston. At one point, Chamillionaire convinced Watts to let him do some freestyle for him, and Watts was sold enough to start to put Chamillionaire and his buddy Paul Wall on some of his tapes.

On the Way to Getting Rich With Money

So how do you go from making mixtapes to making number one national hits? For starters, you make a full album, which is what Chamillionaire and Paul Wall did in 2002. they created a group called The Color Changin' Click and put out "Get Ya Mind Correct." The independent Chamillionaire album sold 100,000, but more importantly, it got the attention of the national hip hop media.

And that, my friends, is how you get big. So what happened next? He would produce his first solo Chamillionaire record in 2005, called "The Sound of Revenge. The album itself hit number 10 on the record chart, but one of the Chamillionaire songs off the album went all the way to number one. It didn't take long, right?

That Chamillionaire song was "Ridin'," and along with Chamillionaire, it featured Krayzie Bone from Cleveland hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The song would also win an award from the MTV music video awards in 2006 for the best rap video of the year. Another song, called "Grind Time," made it into a video, NBA Live 2006.

Rise of the Chamillitary

As CEO of his own Chamillitary Entertainment company, and now himself signing up and comers, Chamillionaire has really lived up to his name. The second solo Chamillionaire album, "Ultimate Victory" got him on Late Night with David Letterman, performing with the legendary Slick Rick. The album was released in 2007, the appearance on TV in September.

And Slick Rick was not the only star on this latest Chamillionaire album. Lil' Wayne, UGK, Mike Jones, Paul Wall-they all can be found on Chamillionaire songs or on remixes. Everyone wants to share in the richness of his talents!

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