How Old Is
Chamillionaire
How Old
Is
- Born: 28 November 1979
- Birthplace:
Houston,
Texas
- Best known
as: Rapper who did the hit song
"Ridin'"
- Name at
birth: Hakeem Seriki
Chamillionaire is the stage
name of Hakeem Seriki, a Texas rapper who rocketed to stardom
in 2006 with the singles "Turn It Up" and "Ridin'." Seriki got
his start in the late 1990s, doing freestyle rap for
SwishaHouse Records in Houston.
He and rapper Paul Wall, a
childhood friend, sold mixed tapes and CDs of themselves
rapping over tracks that had been "chopped and screwed"
(sonically manipulated down-tempo beats).
Chamillionaire (a play on
"chameleon" that's pronounced "KAmillionaire") made a name for
himself in Texas as the "Mixtape Messiah," and a
self-distributed 2002 release, Get Ya Mind Correct sold more
than 100,000 copies and got nationwide attention as one of the
year's best underground hip-hop records.
After several self-released
records, Chamillionaire joined Universal Records and released
The Sound of Revenge in late 2005. A high profile on MTV and
hit singles soon followed and by the end of 2006 Chamillionaire
was a star.
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