Chamillionaire

Prior to breaking into the mainstream Chamillionaire became a well-known respected rapper in and around Houston for his regular mixtape releases. The rapper’s first break came when alongside fellow rapper Paul Wall, Seriki met DJ and producer Michael “5000” Watts, who impressed with the pair’s freestyling, put the verses on a mixtape of his own. Seriki and Wall subsequently became members in Watts’ Swishahouse, and formed their own group, The Color Changin’ Click in 2001. The following year Chamillionaire and Wall crafted the collaborative album “Get Ya Mind Correct”, which proved a huge underground hit, selling over 150,000 copies. The record considerably raised the profile of both artists and led to a show at 2004’s SXSW Festival for The Color Changin' Click.

Released on his own label Chamillitary Entertainment and Universal Records, the rapper’s debut studio album “The Sound of Revenge” arrived in November 2005. Debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, the record was led by the single “Turn It Up”, however eclipsed by the success of the subsequent single “Ridin’”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 upon release. The following year “Ridin’” won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, after which he released the mixtape “Mixtape Messiah 2” and appeared on tracks by Ciara, Frankie J, and Three Six Mafia.

Ahead of his second full-length album, “Ultimate Victory”, Chamillionaire issued “Mixtape Messiah 3” in July 2007. Without a single curse word or piece of profanity, the studio album “Ultimate Victory” was released in September 2007 featuring the likes of Lil Wayne, Lloyd, and UKG. The fourth mixtape instalment “Mixtape Messiah 4” earned its released in August 2008, followed by the single “Creepin’ (Solo) featuring Ludacris. Chamillionaire’s planned third album “Venom” was later shelved by the rapper, who chose to release a string of mixtapes including “Mixtape Messiah 7”, “Major Pain”, “Badazz Freemixes”, and “Badazz Slowmixes”.

In 2011 the rapper parted ways with Universal Records and begun work on a series of EP beginning with “Ammunition” in 2012. The following year Chamillionaire issued “Elevate” in February followed by “Reignfall”, ahead of his third full-length “Poison”.