Chamillionaire has been a Mixtape Messiah on the Southern regional scene for quite some time now. But it took his last retail album, The Sound Of Revenge, to capture the attention of fans nationwide. With “Ridin Dirty” in heavy rotation, Cham managed to bridge the gap that few mixtape artists have done by achieving mainstream success to the tune of platinum plus.
Now with his next album Ultimate Victory set to hit stores soon, Koopa is ready to take the spotlight given to him and use his platform to speak on more than cars, clothes and hoes. With tracks like “Hip-Hop Police” and “Evening News” taking a poignant look at the things surrounding us. “I plan on doing what I feel is right for me and not worrying about anyone that feels otherwise.”
Word.
TSS: I guess it’s been a busy day for you doing the press run?
Cham: Yup…yup. Every day is another grind day.
TSS: I feel you man. The “Hip Hop Police” video is premiering. It’s gonna be a double joint right?
Cham: Yeah it’s a double, nine-minute mini movie type thing.
TSS: What made you choose to do that?
Cham: Because the album is put together like a little movie/motion picture. Everything flows together to the end and there’s a moral of the story at the end. And I felt like [it was] the best way to show the visual for everyone to know what I’m talking about. Sometimes they just gotta see what I’m talking about. So it’s just a little piece of it; put it together like that. There’s a lot of current stuff in there and a lot of social commentary in there but it’s in an entertaining way. The game needs that right now so I did that. Everybody that’s seen the video is tripping off it.
TSS: You had overwhelming success with “Ridin’ Dirty”…it became a phrase in hip-hop and it had that ringtone appeal. A lot of people copped it but it also had that social element you were talking about. What’s your secret and what would you tell artists who think that the only way to have that kind of hit is to make it a dance song?
Cham: Be a leader man. Be a leader. There’s a lot of followers in this world. There’s too much going on to not think nothin’ about nothin’. And I understand you don’t necessarily gotta do that on your single. I ain’t mad at that. But then when you go listen to [those] albums it’s the same ol’ club/VIP. When we’re getting it through, we want to talk about all this stuff. War and labels…but when we get a chance to put out our music, we don’t say nothin’. I feel like, just be a leader. Talk about something…something with a purpose.
TSS: Definitely. Is there a reason why you chose to focus on the authorities and the way that federal agents interact with hip-hop artists? Do you have a personal reason for doing that?
Cham: Well, actually, the “hip-hop police,” that was a hidden meaning. I honestly knew that everybody would think it was about the police. It’s not necessarily about the police. Al Sharpton could be hip-hop police. The lady that’s on T.V. trying to take Akon out of his Verizon deal could be the hip-hop police. Nowadays loving hip-hop is the equivalent of committing a murder. That’s why I made that song. I made references in that song subliminally to a lot of artists like when I said: “We looked in your car and we inspected the deck…and saw the method.” You know that’s Inspectah Deck and Method Man. There’s a [mention of] the “Diary” and the “Blueprints” on the car and “Chronic”… Dr. Dre, Jay-Z. It’s all kinds of subliminal messages that talk about hip-hop nowadays. That’s the police.
TSS: A lot of artists come under fire for their content but then artists are also being arrested for their behavior. As you know, a lot of artists have been in legal trouble recently. Do you think it’s a case of them attracting that attention or do you think that the attention is (unfairly) on them so that if they sneeze, someone’s going to be after them?
Cham: It’s a little bit of both. But what we gotta realize as artists is that’s the position we’re in. Once you become an artist and have a little bit of success, the microscope is on you. Same mistake someone else could make [won't] make the front page like when you do it. At the end of the day, everybody’s human man. We’re not all saints. We’re rappers. It doesn’t matter if you curse or don’t curse, smoke or don’t smoke…there’s poor people out in the world that want money. That makes people act a certain way. Nowadays, we need to be more conscious of everything that’s going on. It’s like a domino effect. I don’t want all these people getting in trouble because it messes up stuff for me honestly. I’m trying to negotiate corporate deals and they ain’t messin’ with me because they just think I’m like everybody else.
TSS: How do you find that balance? Obviously you choose very carefully what your content is going to be and you put out a curse-free mixtape to hold the fans over before your album. What’s the method you use to find balance? Do you consult with your peers or your family? Read the rest of this entry »
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