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Changing colours
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Grammy winner Chamillionaire talks about Ultimate Victory
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Photo: Nagara Gopal
Colours of metal Chamillionaire
He wanted to show the world that hip-hop artistes from the Southern US can give stiff competition to the northern counterparts. His first album Sound of Revenge was a smash hit. “I won a ton of awards but hardly enjoyed the p
rocess. I was merely moving from one concert to the other performing,” recollects Hakeem Seriki, better known to hip-hop fans as Chamillionaire.
As part of his first-ever Indian tour, Chamillionaire unveiled his new album Ultimate Victory. The album he explains, “is when you learn to appreciate life. I’ve learnt to stop and smell the roses. The real victory is when you enjoy what you do.” Winning the Grammy for his album Ridin’ also helped. “South America was unexplored. People thought we were a bunch of cowboys wearing hats and riding horses. Today they understand there’s a lot of talent. It’s similar to contrived notions one has about India. Step into the country and you realise it’s much different than what is shown on television.”
A He says, “I’ve always heard about India’s rich culture and now I am experiencing it. I’ve tasted Indian food in the US but it’s nothing like what you get here. The spices and the accompaniments are all different. The traffic is to be seen to be believed. I’ve never seen two or three people on one bike, criss-crossing lanes on the busiest of roads.”
While in India, he is open to collaborations. “My company has done projects in collaboration with musicians from London, Paris, New Zealand and Toronto. So why not India? In fact, I am doing a bit of research on some of the artistes here,” he says.
Collaborating with artistes, he feels, has become easier today since people are more net savvy. Chamillionaire himself is extremely net savvy and has used the medium to his advantage. His profile on MySpace gets innumerable hits each day with users downloading audio and video clips. “Digital sales for Sound of Revenge accounted for about 5.5 million,” he says with a glint of pride. “My songs also recorded the highest ever downloaded for mobile ringtones. Net users can also watch my videos on You Tube.”
From being Hakeem Seriki, he changed his name to Chameleon before turning Chamillionaire. “I wanted to add some purpose to the name Chameleon, so I added ‘millionaire.’ Not because I wanted to make money, but because I wanted my name to talk about my style – style that’s personal and my style of music.”
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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