The good folks over at GWHH did an interview with Chamillionaire.
One part of it is about Lupe and Chicago...check it out !
One part of it is about Lupe and Chicago...check it out !
GWHH: Well, I got a couple more general questions for ya. For one, I know Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco shows a lot of love toward Houston artists like yourself and being the #1 Chicago Hip Hop Blog, our readers would certainly be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Chicago hip hop scene, just like Lupe has with all you guys?
Chamillionaire: I don’t know man, Lupe man, I kinda scratch my head about him man. I saw him at an awards ceremony. I’m like, “Man, I’m a fan of your music.” When I told him that, “Man I’d love to do somethin’ with ya” and he’s like, “Yeah, we’ll exchange numbers later”. And I kinda thought that was weird ’cause I was lookin’ right at him and [thinkin’], “I’m standing right here in front of you, why can’t we exchange numbers now? “. He sat right behind me at the awards and then I turned around and looked and he was gone. So i was like, “Ok, that was kinda weird to not say nothin’”.
Lupe does this song where he comes to Houston and all these people are in the video and he shouts out everybody.. he never really says my name. Wait a second.. maybe he just.. I don’t get it. And that’s not sayin’ that to diss him [Lupe Fiasco]. I like him. I’m a fan of his music. I think he’s a very smart and intelligent guy. I talked to other people, and I asked them, like they know Lupe so, “What’s up with Lupe?” A friend who was a driver, he was takin’ Kanye and Lupe and all them around too so i asked him. I’m tryin’ to get different opinions because I’m tryin’ to figure out… Maybe he’s just on his own page like that and he likes to be solo just like me. Because that’s how I am. I don’t care about what other people are doin’ sometimes I just stay on my own page. Maybe he’s just like that? I never was able to get my own grasp on that.
But I do think that was a big thing to do that to Houston and show some love. When I actually heard that song on his album, I was pretty surprised. I was like, “Whoa! That was dope.” No artist really does that and he’s from Chicago and he’s showin’ love to all these Houston artists and why and all these reasons - that was really fresh to me. And for him to come to Houston and do that, I don’t know too many artists who do that. That was cool and I know people from Houston really embraced it. And he actually put the people in the video that I know. And they was lovin’ it and I tip my hat off to him for that.
As far as Chicago hip hop is concerned, I was out there for a minute. Stayin’ out there before the Swishahouse thing completely blew up, I was workin’ with Frank Thomas, the baseball player, a record label called Undeniable Entertainment, and I was workin’ with him, a guy named Dro and a guy, Hurt-M-Badd, who produced “Hail Mary” by 2Pac. I was out there a good 3, 4 months. We was workin’, tryin’ to get in the studio w/ Crucial Conflict and Psycho Drama and a lotta people from Chicago. And at that time, I wasn’t as big as I am now, I had a feelin’ I was gonna make it and I kept tellin’ them, “Man, I gotta get back to Texas ’cause I got this lil’ buzz happenin’ right now.”
At that time, they didn’t really know and they were tryin’ to get deals with like people and for me, but I just bounced and went back to Texas. People don’t know that about me. It was super windy like all the time it was real cold. You couldn’t turn your hat one direction ’cause of the gangs, you couldn’t turn it to the right. There was a lot of stuff that I was learnin’. I was like, “Wow man, Chicago’s crazy!” I was at the clubs and they was playin’ house music real fast. I was really young at that time and then I came back [to Texas] and my underground career just started takin’ off. I think everything happens for a reason. I learned a lot while I was out there and I learned a lot of Chicago artists and stuff too.
GWHH: Yeah, and with Chicago hip hop - that’s the central focus of our blog. We post a lot of various hip hop and R&B, trying to attract a wide, mainstream audience to pay more attention to our focus of Chicago hip hop. But yeah, and with the Lupe story, I’m not intending to twist that into..
Chamillionaire: Aw naw man. Do whatever you want. I know Lupe’s a smart guy, he knows I”m not beefin’ with him or anything. I just had to put that out there for real. Nobody has ever asked me that before. If anybody has asked me about Lupe, I woulda answered like that. I’m a fan of him. I’m a fan of him. I am a Lupe fan, even before and after this interview. I like his music. And i actually hear his frustration with not wanting to be in hip hop anymore because I be feelin’ the same way a lotta times.
For the full interview Click Here
Chamillionaire told me the same thing. Look I've been a HUGE Lupe fan since early '05. There's nobody I've played more since. But I'm also a big Chamillionaire fan. I'm from Texas and to me Chamillionaire is the best lyricist with maybe the exception of Bun B. He really puts a lot into his material.
ReplyDeleteI went to Cham's CD signing for Mixtape Messiah 4 here in Austin and Cham personally greeted every person that had been waiting in line before he went to the signing table. What's crazy is when Lupe came to do his signing on "the cool" tour last year Lupe actually had about 4 times more people waiting in line for his signing here in Austin! So as soon as it's my turn to get my CD signed, Cham's freestyle over Kick Push (on mistape messiah 4 album) came on over the speakers in the Music store. So from that point I HAD to ask him if he would ever do a song with Lupe. That's when he told me that story and said that he's a huge fan of Lupe and what he does, but I just like Cham was just a little disappointed with the story how Lu left him hangin' a bit. I really think they very similar as artist, but just have different styles and sound and different ways of expressing themselves. I'll still rep Lupe no matter what whether Cham had or hadn't told me that story, but for all you Lupe fans who don't know much about Chamillionaire....CHECK HIM OUT! He's really a down to earth celeb that takes his craft and being artistic seriously!
With that said Love the blog!
FNF UP Baby!!
Daniel - Austin, TX
Cham isn't that great of a lyricist...you've gotta be kidding. Especially if you put him on the level of Lupe. I'd play Cham too...there's a reason he didn't get listed in the Swang on Em verse...
ReplyDeleteCham isn't that great. I don't really like him too much. He had that annoying Riding Dirty song right? Yea, that was horrible.
ReplyDeleteno i was just like you guys, that riding dirty song made me think he was trash, but apparently that's what he was being pressured to do by the label. They tried to project that image out of him. But he seems like he's rid himself of the shackles. I accidentally came across his mixtape messiah 4 on youtube, and can i just say his wordplay is soooo fresh.
ReplyDeleteHis Nas-hero remix is so awesome, and his roll call song takes absolute talent. He's HEAPS better than i thought, give him a go. I think we'll see the real cham on this upcoming album.