Hakeem Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is a rapper, investor and entrepreneur hailing from Houston, Texas.
He's best-known for his 2005 hit "Ridin'" (sometimes erroneously known as "Ridin' Dirty"), which was a UK No. 2 and US No. 1 hit in 2005, and was memorably parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "White and Nerdy".
While he had other hits in the mid-2000s (including his own "Turn It Up" and "Hip-Hop Police", and his feature on Ciara's 2004 hit "Get Up"), by the 2010s he had largely moved into business and entrepreneurship, where he found considerable success. Among his most successful financial moves include investing $1.5million into YouTube network Maker Studios, which was sold to Disney in 2014 for $500m, with Chamillionaire making more than $20m from his initial stake; and self-driving car company Cruise Automation, which was bought by General Motors for over $1billion in 2016.
Discography:
Albums
- Get Ya Mind Correct (2002) (with Paul Wall)
- Controversy Sells (2002) (with Paul Wall)
- The Sound of Revenge (2005)
- Ultimate Victory (2007)
Extended Plays
- Ammunition (2012)
- Elevate (2013)
- Reignfall (2013)
Mixtapes
- The Mixtape Messiah (2004)
- The Truth: From the Ground Up (2005)
- Man on Fire (2005)
- Mixtape Messiah 2 (2006)
- Chamillitary Therapy (2006)
- Mixtape Messiah 3 (2007)
- Mixtape Messiah 4 (2008)
- Mixtape Messiah 5 (2008)
- Hangin' Wit' Mr. Koopa (2009)
- Mixtape Messiah 6 (2009)
- I Am Legend: Greatest Verses (2009)
- Mixtape Messiah 7 (2009)
- Major Pain (2010)
- Major Pain 1.5 (2011)
- Badazz Freemixes (2011)
- Badazz Slow-Mixes (2011)
- Badazz Freemixes 2 (2011)
- Greatest Verses, Vol. 2 (2014)
- Greatest Verses 3 (2018)
Below is a general overlook of his music and the man himself:
- Animal Motifs: Chameleons, obviously. His stage name, his chain's medallion, his entertainment company (Chamillitary), and his rap group (Color Changin' Click) were all derived from the color-changing reptile.
- Anti-Police Song: At least two of his songs fall within the trope:
- "Ridin'" calls out racial profiling and Police Brutality, though to the extent of glamourizing disregard for authority altogether. Compared to songs like "Fuck Tha Police", "Killing In The Name", and "Disillusion in a Discordant System", it's rather subtle.
- "Hip Hop Police", on the other hand, parodies this trope by having the targets be celebrities within the hip-hop music scene.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: While he did swear in his earlier work, he would avoid using profanity later on.
- Skewed Priorities: At the end of "Ridin'", he and Krayzie Bone crash their car. KB is clearly terrified and freaking out about their situation, while Chamillionaire just complains that his drink was spilled.
- We Used to Be Friends: With fellow Houston rapper Paul Wall. He and Chamillionaire fell out in 2004, when Chamillionaire's younger brother, Rasaq, was allegedly attacked by Paul Wall and his entourage at a nightclub. The two officially buried the hatchet in 2010, when they reunited for a full tour. Unofficially, they had "stopped beefing a long time ago", but no-one believed them
.
