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Chamillionaire

Hakeem Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name '''Chamillionaire''' (pronounced Ka-MIL-yin-air, , a portmanteau of "chameleon" and "millionaire") is an American rapper, CEO, singer and musician from Houston, Texas and the Chief executive officer|CEO of Chamillitary Entertainment. He stated that his aim is to prove that the Southern United States|South can produce quality lyricists. He is also a hook writer and usually sings and harmonizes with himself (using multi-tracked vocals) on his own hooks. Chamillionaire is a founder and original member of The Color Changin' Click. In 2007, he won a Grammy Award for ''Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group'' for his number-one single "Ridin'", a Hot 100 number-one hits of 2006 (USA)|number-one hit in the United States for two weeks in 2006. He is a former artist on Michael 5000 Watts' Swishahouse label.

Early life

Seriki was born in Washington, D.C. to an immigrant father from Oyo State, Nigeria and a Christian mother. He moved to Houston, Texas at the age of four.Chamillionaire - Biography - Chamillionaire Before becoming a rapper he held numerous jobs, including stocking trucks and transporting blood and urine for a medical lab. In a January 2006 interview with ''The Austin Chronicle'', Chamillionaire stated that at first lived in a section of Houston zoned to Eisenhower High School (Houston)|Eisenhower High School and that his parents moved to the Jersey Village High School attendance zone so he could play in its more advanced basketball program.

Music career

Chamillionaire stated that he has been recording mixtapes as early as 1998. While promoting themselves in an event, he and Paul Wall met Michael "5000" Watts, a popular mixtape DJ from northern Houston. After proposing to do promotions for Watts's company Swishahouse, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall came to Watts's studio and convinced Watts to allow them freestyle on an intro to Watts's radio show on Houston hip-hop radio station KBXX|KBXX-FM. Watts, who himself was convinced to rap on the record, enjoyed the freestyle so much that he put the verses on one of his mixtapes. Soon, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall became regular staples on Houston's mixtape circuit, appeared on several of Watts's mixtapes, and became permanent members of Swishahouse. Chamillionaire and Paul Wall soon started their own group, The Color Changin' Click. In 2002, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall collaborated for the album ''Get Ya Mind Correct'', would go on to sell over 150,000 copies. ''The Source (magazine)|The Source'' magazine nominated the album for independent album of the year in 2002.

''The Sound of Revenge'' (2005–2006)

Chamillionaire's first major solo release ''The Sound of Revenge'' was released through Chamillitary Entertainment and Universal Records in November 2005. The album debuted and peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States. The album's lead single was "Turn It Up (Chamillionaire song)|Turn It Up", featuring Lil' Flip produced by Scott Storch, followed by "Ridin' (Chamillionaire song)|Ridin'", featuring Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony; "Ridin'" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Its video also was named "MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video|Best Rap Video" in the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. Comedic performer Weird Al Yankovic made a parody of the song, titled "White and Nerdy", for his own album ''Straight Outta Lynwood''. The third single from the album was "Grown and Sexy". Additionally, the bonus track "Grind Time" was featured in the video game ''NBA Live '06''. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA, and a The Sound of Revenge (Screwed & Chopped)|chopped and screwed version, screwed by OG Ron C, was released in February 2006. Guest appearances for the album included Lil' Flip, Natalie (singer)|Natalie, Krayzie Bone, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Pastor Troy, Killer Mike, Scarface (rapper)|Scarface, and his brother Rasaq. In January 2006, Chamillionaire entered a feud with BCD Music Group, a company that used to distribute his music, as BCD claimed that Chamillionaire was making slanderous remarks about the company in his songs. Consequently, Shila Mitra, a partner of BCD, fueled the feud further with her own diss track. Later in 2006, Chamillionaire was featured in the singles "Get Up (Ciara song)|Get Up" by Ciara, "That Girl (Frankie J song)|That Girl" by Frankie J, "Bet That" by Trick Daddy, "King Kong" by Jibbs, and "Dope Boy Fresh" by Three Six Mafia in 2007.

''Ultimate Victory'' (2006–2008)

To promote his new album, Chamillionaire released Mixtape Messiah 3 as a prelude to his new album on July 18, 2007 at exactly 11pm Eastern Time on his website. Chamillionaire released his second mainstream album ''Ultimate Victory'' on September 18, 2007. Guest appearances included UGK, Krayzie Bone, Lil Wayne, Famous, Tony Henry, Devin the Dude and Lloyd (singer)|Lloyd. The first single was "Hip Hop Police", featuring Slick Rick, which both Chamillionaire and Slick Rick performed on the CBS television network program ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on September 14, 2007. The following single is "The Evening News." Chamillionaire recently signed back to Chamillitary Entertainment the rapper Yung Ro, a former member The Color Changin' Click, but released him from Chamillitary Entertainment shortly after. He is also planning to tour and is also planning a group album with Famous called ''Money, Power, and Fame'', who will be working on a solo album to drop in the future after the group album. Chamillionaire will release the Tony Henry R&B project through the label Chamillitary Soul.ThatsHiphop.com - » CHAMILLIONAIRE: Expanding His Brand Mixtape Messiah 4, the fourth title in Chamillionaire's ''Mixtape Messiah'' series, was initially set for release on December 18, 2007, but was released on August 27, 2008.

''Venom'' (2008–present)

Mixtape Messiah 5 was released on November 23, 2008. Chamillionaire is also starting a live video stream which he can chat with fans on the internet on UStreamhttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/chamillionaire-live. ''Mixtape Messiah 6'' is set to be released January 13, 2009. Chamillionaire also mentioned on a ''Mixtape Messiah 4'' track that his Venom_(Chamillionaire_album)|untitled 3rd studio album would be released 4th quarter 2008. This album would later be titled Venom_(Chamillionaire_album)|''Venom'' and be pushed back to 1st quarter 2009. The near release of ''Mixtape Messiah 7'' was also mentioned by Chamillionaire via his website's voice-mail system, on December 29, 2008. On January 3, 2009, the mixtape ''Hangin' Wit' Mr. Koopa'' was released with Tosin of The Screw Shop. On this mixtape, Chamillionaire also mentioned the upcoming releases of ''Mixtape Messiah 8'' & ''Mixtape Messiah 9''.