Chamillionaire life and biography

Hakeem Seriki, better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is an American rapper, singer, philanthropist, and CEO of Chamillitary Entertainment.

Chamillionaire is also the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click.

He began his career independently with local releases in 2002, including collaboration album Get Ya Mind Correct with fellow Houston rapper and childhood friend Paul Wall. He signed to Universal Records in 2005 and released The Sound of Revenge under Universal. It included hit singles "Turn It Up" featuring Lil' Flip and the number-one, Grammy-winning hit "Ridin'" featuring Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Ultimate Victory followed in 2007, with the hits, Hip Hop Police featuring Slick Rick, and Rockstar featuring Lil Wayne.

Seriki's stage name Chamillionaire is a portmanteau of "chameleon" and "millionaire" He has been recording mixtapes since 1998. While self-promoting at an event, Seriki and fellow rapper Paul Wall met Michael "5000" Watts, a popular mixtape DJ from northern Houston. After proposing to do promotions for Watts's company Swishahouse, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall came to Watts's studio and convinced Watts to allow them to freestyle on an intro to Watts's radio show on Houston hip-hop radio station KBXX-FM. Watts, who himself was convinced to rap on the record, enjoyed the freestyle so much that he put the verses on one of his mixtapes. Soon, Seriki (performing as Chamillionaire) and Paul Wall became regular staples on Houston's mixtape circuit, appeared on several of Watts's mixtapes, and became permanent members of Swishahouse. Chamillionaire and Paul Wall soon started their own group, The Color Changin' Click. In 2002, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall collaborated for the album Get Ya Mind Correct, which went on to sell over 150,000 copies. The Source magazine nominated the album for independent album of the year in 2002. Chamillionaire and the Color Changin' Click, dubbed "Houston's answer to 50 Cent and his G-Unit posse", performed at the SXSW music festival in 2004.

2011-Present: Departure from Universal Records and Playlist Poison

According to Kanye West's engineer and producer Andrew Dawson, Chamillionaire and Universal Records have parted ways.

During his live UStream on January 14, 2011, Chamillionaire announced he was officially off of Universal Records. As part of this deal he is not allowed to release Venom or any material recorded during that time. He is currently working on a new series called Playlist Poison and will release tracks on a random basis. The first track of Playlist Poison was "When Ya On" which featured West coast rapper Nipsey Hussle,the second being "This My World" featuring Big K.R.I.T., the third track being entitled "Charlie Sheen" which is featuring Rock D & Killer Mike, and latest track being entitled "Passenger Seat" featuring Young Money's Short Dawg. He released a new mixtape, Major Pain 1.5 for free download from his website on April 18, and his upcoming third studio album will not be composed of his Playlist Poison releases.

Chamillionaire recently toured to the Middle East in support of U.S. Troops in Iraq and in Kuwait.

Chamillionaire co-owns Houston based auto dealer Fly Rydes with a partner, Ernest. He personally owns a tour bus company and his record label, Chamillitary Entertainment. Chamillionaire has since let Ernest take over the whole company. Chamillionaire also has worked with William Kemp, an entrepreneur from Houston, Texas on a project still in the works involving the purchasing of stocks and other ventures.

On November 4, 2009, Chamillionaire launched the Global Innovation Tournament 2009 at the Stanford Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University with Quincy Jones III as part of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar Series.

Discography:
Get Ya Mind Correct (2002) (With Paul Wall)
Controversy Sells (2005) (With Paul Wall)
The Sound of Revenge (2005)
Ultimate Victory (2007)
Poison (2011)

Filmography:
Punk'd (US TV Series) (2007) 1 Episode (Season 8, Episode 2)
The Game (US TV series) (2007) 1 Episode (When the Chickens Come Home to Roost Part 1) (Credited as himself)
Pimp My Ride (US TV series) (2007) 1 Episode Featured Guest Host Chamillionaire (Season 6, Episode 9)

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