CHAMILLIONARE - ON GROWING UP.

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:43:42 +0100

I met Chamillionare some years ago in Puerto Rico. He wasn't a star then, well at least not the international star he is now.
But he was well known in the Houston Rap scene as being the Mixtape Messiah. He was rolling with his younger brother Razaq, The legendary O.G. Ron C & Austin's Dj Rapid Ric. I'm talking about years ago when the brother had diamonds missing from his chain. I'm talking about the five of us sneaking into the atlantic records Showcase through the back door, telling the kitchen staff that we were performing, which of course we were not. We hadnt even paid the registration fees for the event (Mix Show Power Summit), so we had no badges and had to do the "shimmy shimmy ya" where ever we went. It wasa pleasure to get up with Cham years later to talk about a buit more than his platinum success.
H.I. Tell us about your upbringing:

CH:Yea, when I was coming up, it was kind of crazy, you know because my Dad was Muslim. He wasn’t just like.. He was a real big Muslim. He was the president of Muslim Association of Houston. Hakeem Olajuwon went to his mosque. So he was the real dude. And my mom was the complete invert. Growing up seeing that as kids, my brothers all of us we would just have to make decisions all the time. So our dad would take us to the mosque and my mom would sneak us out the mosque early to go to church. So it was real crazy. They wasn’t big on rap. There wasn’t no rap music, you know even basketball, they let us out for a couple of hours you know what I’m saying, and we would have to come home before the lights on.

H.I. Tell me about the writing style that you developed over the years?

CH: Like I said my dad didn’t really like the rap game so he would come in and get mad, because I had the rap on the table. So what I would do, I would teach myself to write real sloppy. I’d start writing real sloppy so when he’d come in he would think it was school work. He would think my school work was out you know what I’m saying. He just never had a trace on the whole rap game. You know, with a rebellious child, that’s what they do. When they’re told not to do something, they go do it.

The rap game kind of interested me, so i could get myself away from all the bad stuff that was going, they was arguing..I’ve been writing sloppy for so many years that I can’t write neat now. In life you’re going to have a whole bunch of choices, I’m a person that had to deal with that over and over again – young. Always had to make a choice. I know who I am, I know how to make decisions. I believe in my gut now.

A lot of things even being on a major label, everybody is going to have an opinion on everything.
But I just trust my gut and go wit it and I do that comfortably. The way I grew up, I been doing that. Actually making decisions, but its not been easy doing, because everybody got an opinion on something. What’s good, what’s bad, what’s wrong.
I trust my gut and it might tell me something different and when I do it a lot of people may go against me because everybody wants you to do what they want you to do. It’s MY life ,and I tell everybody that I wanna do something THIS way, they like “nah, I think you should do it this way- this way works”. And I do it THIS way, everybody’s looking at me like ‘what’s wrong with you?”
So that happened to me my whole life you know? With the decision being on the label, everybody following suit , going with what the CEO saying, and I’ll be like “you know what? Naw, I don’t wanna do that, I don’t think that makes money” Like I always say: A broke nigga is always gonna tell you how to make a dollar”. They always want to tell you how to do something, but you look at their life – and their life ain’t nowhere! So I’m going to get it the way I know how. Going against the grain.

PART 2 COMING SOON

STYLES P - STILL A GANGSTER. MORE OF A GENTLEMAN

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:40:16 +0100

H.I. Because of your song I’m Black, you’re known to some people as a Hardcore MC with a Political edge: Was this your first song making a social statement? Or have people been missing the essence of your music?

S.P. Nah, I been doing that, probably was my first song. Nah, I couldn’t even say that, cuz there was one on my last album. I forgot the title of it, but it was like off of an Al Green beat (ed. note the song in question is Listen which samples Al Green’s Love and Happiness)

H.I.: Do your fans appreciate the socio-political side? Or does it alienate them?

S.P. I mean I wouldn’t Call It exactly political. I just call it the human side I wouldn’t call it political, I call it being a fucking human being.

H.I. In The past, there have been people that didn’t want to touch D block based on opposing forces out there. Who has done the opposite? Who has shown love to you regardless of whom or what?

S.P. The Streets, ALWAYS. Anybody in the industry, I don’t care about who’s against us or who’s wit’ us. You know? I just let it be.

H.I. How did you link up for the song Comrades Call with M-1 of dead prez?

S.P. I liked their work, I always seen them and always told them that I enjoyed their music. I love their work, then there was one day, I forget where we was at. He was like ‘let’s link up.’ I was like Hell Yeah, so we just did the joint.

H.I. The title of your first album was A Gangster and a Gentleman, a lot of people use this phrase now..Was it something you coined or just something you made more popular, because I never heard it before your album.

S.P. Nah I made that up myself. I mean that’s just the truth, I was working on my solo album. I wanted to give them me. It was time to give them me. And I thought that was the best way to describe myself.

H.I. That was a few years ago. Do you hold the same description of yourself?

S.P. Right now you could call me a gentleman and a gangster. Same description, but you can switch it around. I’m more gentleman than gangster nowadays.

H.I. What song represents Styles P the most?

S.P. The song that I did that represented me the most, they shot me under the door with it.That would have been I’m Black.

H.I. How did that work out for you?

S.P. It didn’t.

H.I. What did you expect? Who did you want to be embraced by…if anyone?

S.P. I would have hoped it would have been embraced definitely. I did it more so the fact that it needed to be done. I’m a rapper with so much street credibility; it would be better hearing shit from me, somebody from the streets cuz the people could relate it more. I feel like it something that needed to be said you know?

H.I. Did you lose or gain any fans by doing I’m Black?

S.P. My core audience knows that I’m going to drop a jewel anyway, I might not do a whole song, but that’s part of Styles P. So, some people expected it from me. I just looked at it as something that needed to be said.

I make street music; I don’t really give a fuck to tell you the truth. You like it you like it-you don’t-you don’t, if you feel it you feel it, I’m happy for that, if you don’t? Then you ain’t gotta listen to it. Listen to something else. I’m not really a worrisome artist like that.

H.I. You’re more natural.

S.P. I been doing what I do for years naturally and people love me for it so I stick to the script

H.I. I’ver heard you say that you are not a half ass emcee.What does a half ass emcee sound like?

S.P. About 50% of the industry

H.I. When you write a verse..

S.P. : I don’t write, shit flows through my head and I gotta put a song in my head when the beats on. I’m a spur of the moment kind of guy.

H.I. Are you still in the same community?

S.P. I’m a block away from The Hood. well we’re in The Hood, but a block away literally from MY Hood.

H.I. What do you have on your mind that you haven’t put in a song as yet because it may have been hard to manifest?

S.P. I used to have that problem; I had that problem before I came out of jail.

I would have said It woulda been I’m Black If you would have asked me that before. I mean me, I express myself most of the time. Wait, I have to take that back. Before I go out, I gotta do a song breaking down the wickedness in the game and the people in it.

H.I. What are some of the things wicked things in the game that we have to look out for?

S.P. Everything and everybody in it.

H.I. Is there anything that you saw when you were coming up on the outside looking in that you didnt like about rappers and the industry that you found yourself doing?

S.P. Nothing that I saw in other rappers. I wish that I wasn’t so…but you cant even say that, cuz everything happens for a reason…and you learn from your past mistakes and the things you are.But I wish people didn’t know that I would stand up for myself so much… I wish I would have did that quieter. You know? I wish I would have just had my temper cooler in my earlier years.

Then I would never have got locked up and lose money and my family have to suffer from my mistakes. I would say that. Being locked up and spending lawyer money and bail money.

H.I. So that would pretty much explain the shift in the order of the gentleman and the gangster?

S.P. Yea. It would

H.I. So now how do you stand up for yourself? Most people think that when some one is on the offensive, there is only one way to respond.

S.P. It’s about calming down for the moment, I guess not reacting off the moment, but before I used to react fast off the moment. People knew that I would be the one to flip fast. I just didn’t want that pinned to me.

H.I. Obviously there are alot of people who wont take heed to that right away, but do look up to you. The reality is, if people want to bang, they will bang. If you could tell them to bang for a certain thing. Lets say out of Money, Power, Respect Or Freedom? What would it be?

S.P. Freedom First. Freedom is more important than everything. Freedom and Respect is on top of the line too. It’s a toss up.

H.I. One of your parents are African.

S.P. My mom is South African.

H.I. Have you ever been?

S.P. Nah

H.I. Ever plan to?

S.P. I was supposed to go before my ass ended up in jail. I have some trips I’m supposed to go, but I kind of want to go to South Africa first. Then I’m good. Definitely so. ASAP.

H.I. Do you still have any roots out there?

S.P. My mom…all her family is gone.

H.I. So it’s a personal trip.

S.P. Yea indeed so, I don’t have no family back home

conversations-with-god

CHAMILLIONARE - ON GROWING UP.

STYLES P - STILL A GANGSTER. MORE OF A GENTLEMAN