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. Continued on page 2 »