Houston, TX - Since the 1970's hip-hop music has changed not only its appearance, but also its content, style and swagger. Hip-hop music was started in America, relating to the struggles of African Americans at the time and it is now one of the biggest driving forces in the entertainment industry.

The East Coast popped, West Coast popped, Chi-town popped, and it was only a matter of time until the South broke loose. With artists like T.I, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, Young Jeezy, Lil' Wayne, dominating the industry, doors opened for many independent artists creating a buzz. Labels started looking at them closer, and the bidding wars for the next hottest thing began.

For some time I had been listening to Chopped and Screwed and when Mike Jones first came out with "Still Tippin'," I knew the time had come for Texas to show and tell. Houston, Texas has been a mixtape powerhouse for quite some time, housing important but often-overlooked entities like DJ Screw (R.I.P.), Swisha House and the Freestyle Kings.

Chamillionaire and Paul Wall made up the duo that was part of Lil Flip's crew, a major player in the Freestyle Kings. They released their first mixtape Get Your Mind Correct, which sold over 100,000 units independently, and marked the beginning of a new era. Chamillionaire acquired the title "The Mixtape Messiah" after garnering incredible success through his mixtape sales. He became one of the highest selling independent artists in Texas.

With Chamillitary Records as his own label and Universal as his major, in 2005, Chamillionaire released The Sound Of Revenge, an album that went platinum in no time. His Debut Singles "Turn it up" produced by Scott Storch, featuring Lil'Flip and "Ridin'" featuring Krayzie Bone, have blown up the charts and made him one of the most requested artists of the year. In fact, Chamillionaire took the Best Rap Video for "Ridin'" at this year's MTV Video Awards, beating out artists like 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and T.I. The explosive single also became the first in history to be RIAA certified triple platinum, making "Ridin'" the highest selling mastertone ever.

The platinum-plus album features artists like Lil' Flip, Bun B, Scarface, and Krayzie Bone, as well as diligent producers Scott Storch (50 Cent), Mannie Fresh (Lil' Wayne, Baby, Juvenile) Cool & Dre (The Game) and The Beat Bullies.

HipHopCanada.com had a chance to catch up with Chamillionaire when he came on tour in Canada and got him to speak on many issues, including his falling out with Paul Wall, his upbringing in the mixtape circuit, his Fly Rydes, and his unbelievable success. Keep reading to find out what Chamillionaire had to tell us.

HHC: I am going to start from the beginning when you started promoting with Paul Wall. Where did you see yourself? Did you ever think you'd be getting into the rap game?
I wanted to man. It wasn't just promoting because it was the best way to connect and network with people and that's why we started doing it. We never knew it was going to get on this level though.

HHC: You didn't think it would get this far?
Yeah, I had faith in myself and was always a hard worker and a grinder, but after I had seen certain things happen in my life, step-by-step people started believing.

HHC: You and Paul Wall went in the studio with Michael Watts to talk about promotions and you guys convinced him to let you spit a verse on the mixtape he was putting out. How did you do that?
I think the best thing you can do for somebody is what you can do for them. That's what we did. We told him how good we could promote for him and that's why he let us in to Swisha House: to talk about what we could do for him. Then we ended up making something out of it. Sometimes when you're on a big level and everyone is coming at you asking for something, you pay attention to those who can do something for you.

HHC: From that track it then took off and you guys were on a bunch of mixtapes?
When it came out a lot of people were asking who we were. The sound we had was different at the time and it got us more features on more mixtapes… and next thing you know we were doing our own thing with our own fan base and our own audience.

HHC: What did you listen to back then?
A lot of the records that Death Row was putting out. UGK is one of my favorite groups.

HHC: How was it to work with Bun B? You have him on the album right?
Yeah man, it was great. Not only is he a good mentor but also he tells other young artists about his experience and what to do and what not to do.

HHC: If you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently?
No, I wouldn't change anything. You can't control your destiny like that. The one thing I would probably say though is that I would try to learn a lot earlier. You a lot of people who are far ahead in their careers started at a young age. Like for example when people learn to play piano at an early age or guitar or whatever, they get so far ahead so quickly. So that's one thing I would have to say, learn as much as you can at an early age.

HHC: Definitely, I hear that. I find that with a lot of people who are ahead right now, they started so young.
Yeah, for sure. They had people behind them and they were learning real early. Like I look back at when I used to hand out flyers at 17 and think "I wish I would have known what I knew at that age, earlier than that."

HHC: Were your parents supportive of you? I know you grew up in a household with two different religions. Your dad is Muslim and your mom is Christian.
They weren't really supportive of the music. Hip- Hop was seen as a bad influence and it was the time when gangsta' rap really started taking off.

HHC: How do they feel now?
Oh they have to be proud now. People call them and tell them I'm on TV. My mom doesn't follow the hip-hop world like that, but my mom knows what's going on because so many people call her and tell her.

HHC: How did your surroundings affect your music and who you are now?
I think the morals I grew up with definitely affected who I am today. I don't even smoke or drink and people don't understand why. They think all rappers do.

HHC: Why?
It's just how I grew up. I don't. Also I'm a hard worker now, because when I was young all we did was work work work, and that's why I am who I am today. And I still keep working and don't waste my time.

HHC: You vouched to never work for anyone else, but to always do your own thing and work on your own to support your family. Would you recommend that for other artists coming up?
You know, even when you're working for someone else, it's good to have your own something, whatever it is, and always wanting to be the "CEO" of whatever it is that you want to do. Those are the people that are making real money and those are the people that are in control. Everyone else is just followers. You work at a company for so many years, and then you get fired and you have to start from point 0 again. If it happens at age 30 you realize you can start your own company, which you could have done this whole time, but you are now doing it at age 30.

HHC: You got your start in the mixtape game and the mixtapes were obviously big in Houston. Would you recommend that for other artists coming out: to put a lot of mixtapes out prior to an album?
I wouldn't say a lot of them, but it's good to have stuff out. At the end of the day it's about quality. You have to have to be creative about it and have good music that people want to hear. Once you get that down, then yes, I do believe that mixtapes is the best form of promotion out there. So many people bootleg them, that they go everywhere. The mixtape game is also so saturated now that if you come with this normal mixtape, nobody is going to want to pick it up. There's got to be a buzz about it.

HHC: Is there anyone in the game right now, that is coming up or whatever that you look at and say: "Damn, that's how I was two years ago and I think they're going to be at where I'm at two years from now?"
Damn, that's a good question, a very good question. I really don't man. A lot of people that I see are followers. You don't find too many risk-takers and that's kind of the dude I was. I always went against the grain and now I think people just follow others. I admire artists who take risks. I like Kanye West. He is different from everyone else. I don't think anyone else could have put out a song called "Jesus Walks". It was different. It was a breath of fresh air.

HHC: Is there anyone on the mixtape circuit, independent level that you listen to?
Yeah. There's an artist named Trae and a guy named Magnificent who used to be in a group with Mike Jones. My brother Rasaq, has that same hunger that I used to have. He raps all day like I used to.

HHC: I noticed that you traveled all over Canada and you have done numerous shows. What do you like better: performing or recording? Why?
I prefer recording because it's the creative aspect of it. Performing is like the same thing every day. You can switch it up a little bit, but really you know what songs people want to listen to, and you repeat that in each city. With recording you come with something creative. Every time you step in the studio it's like cooking up a new dish.

HHC: Ok…now I am going to ask you about the beefs. I know EVERYBODY has probably been asking you this and I hate asking the same questions as other people, but is your "beef" with Paul Wall resolved?
I like when people ask me that because it gives some awareness out about it.

HHC: There was an e-mail that was sent out that none of you guys actually sent out talking about the situation...
At the time I didn't care about the e-mail going out because I felt like there was something that needed to happen in order to get the media to stop caring about it. Like how come two people can't just agree to disagree and everybody leaving it alone? When me and Paul decided to go separate ways, everyone else was like why? What happened? Then people started to try and turn me against him and him against me, but we're not tripping on each other like that man. Everybody's getting money, living their life you know.

HHC: I know that your families also knew each other, how did they react when you guys started working separate ways?
My mom wasn't really too much into it. She wished it didn't have to happen, but you know that's life. As people grow, they grow into two different people and sometimes it's not as compatible when you get older and have different goals.

HHC: Ok, what about Mike Jones? Are you beefing with him? What kind of terms are you on with him?
Nah, I'm not beefing with nobody. This beef thing went too far. Magazines went out and put out that Chamillionaire is beefing with everybody. A personal situation just got blown up for no reason. Me and Mike Jones don't speak because of the Paul Wall situation. People were taking sides and trying to divide the whole thing. I could have came out with my album and started dissing everyone, but I don't do that. That's not me. People that get to know me know that I'm a good dude and an honorable guy. Before they used to think that I was this big bad monster.

HHC: But you did put out a diss mixtape dedicated to Mike Jones no?
People say dedicated like…(Laughing)

HHC: (Laughing) Well that's what I read. If you go to Wikipedia, it says that Chamillionaire dedicated 1 of his 3 disc mixtapes to Mike Jones.
It was so big in the southern region that people were listening to it and were like, "wow, Chamillionaire is putting out all these songs dissing Mike Jones", when really it wasn't. It was just that one CD. And the reason why that came out was because of the situation with Paul. I feel like family business is family business but I felt like he (Mike Jones) was going everywhere and saying that I'm this bad guy that did Paul so wrong, and I'm basically like why don't you stay out of it, it's family business. At that time he didn't even know me. I never met Mike Jones and we weren't even boys like that. How can someone speak on my family business when they don't even know me? That's why I made an example out of him. I could have kept going because it was working in my favor, getting me a lot of press, but I decided to be the bigger man and leave it alone. As of today I seen him the other day at the club and we're not boys or anything and hang out, but we can stay in the same building and have no problems.

HHC: Good, at least you guys keep it just on wax.
Not even, it's not even on wax. Nobody can say anything about anybody now. We're just leaving it alone.

HHC: Right. You guys were all in the cover of The Source in the early summer and everyone was there. How was that shoot?
It was good; it was no problems. Everyone was there. Not everyone spoke to each other, but it was still cool. It was for a good cause, it was lifting Texas up. We're grown men, we handle business like grown men. Everybody is not going to be friends, or holding hands, but at the same time, you just agree to disagree.

HHC: Alright, well another beef I wanted to clear up with you was also Shila Mitra, the lady from BCD Music Group. They call her Soccer Mom… She put out a mixtape dissing you, and the cover of it is a boot with the English flag on it, squashing a chameleon.
Two things that I stand for are honesty and loyalty. I don't mess with dishonest people. The company was putting out mix CD's of me and bootlegging them. Then, when I went to their offices and asked them why they were doing that, they said "We knew that eventually you'd come in and want to mess with us." I don't do business with dishonest people and chose to not do business with them. Because of that they went on this rampage talking trash about me. I could have taken the money, but I don't mess with dishonest people and decided not to. They were guilty of bootlegging a lot of other artists as well. It causes troubles when you take my Mix CD that I put in the streets and you put it in stores like a real CD and it's being scanned, and labels are looking at me like I'm the one doing it, when I'm really not. She then went on to send out press releases and what not. I just ignore it because it doesn't really bother me. Karma comes back on people.

HHC: Oh okay, because I read that it was you who was giving them the bad name.
Nah, not at all. They got mad because when people asked me about them, I would say that they were bootlegging my CD's, which is the truth. I don't even know them like that and I can't say anything personal about her. They had a lot of artists in Houston going to them and what they said was that Chamillionaire himself works with us, which was not true. I was never working with them. They were using my name, to lure a lot of other people in.

HHC: Did 50/50 leave Chamillitary Records to go work with them, BCD Music Group?
You must know them? That's something that they would say…

HHC: (Laughs) Me? No not at all! I stayed up till 4 am last night and did a lot of research about you and there was a lot of information that I came across that pointed me into the questions I'm asking about these people.
Damn that's real good. Well no, 50/50 did not leave our camp to go work with them. He's not even working with them right now. He saw me having a lot of success as a young CEO and what he wanted to do was be a CEO too, not just an artist. I cannot be mad at that because that's what I used to say to people too. So he started his own company called Rock for Rock and I was like "Cool man. If you need advice or anything I will give it to you." They then went and told him that they gave me this much and this much money for working with them, which was untrue because I never took any money from them. They were trying to use my name to get him to do business with them. But no, to this day he does not work with them.

HHC: Alright, so tell me about the deal with Universal. I know you always wanted to stay independent because you wanted to make your own money, and were waiting for the right deal to come along. Why did you choose Universal?
Universal is just a situation that works for me. I am a person that likes to be more in control. I don't want people to think I'm some ignorant little artist. They gave me that respect when I walked through the door. I told them about my goals and my ideas, and when the contract came they matched what they had said.

HHC: I saw on Smack DVD that you have your own shop where you customize cars. Tell me about it.
Yeah, we have a business in Houston called Fly Rydes. We take old school vehicles and we fix them up and make them brand new. Actually my business partner, Big E, started it a long time ago. He started making a lot of noise in our city and doing a lot of cars so one day I went in and had him do some work for me. I liked the job so much that I asked to go on business with him and he was game. He respected my business mind and business hustle and since then we been working on the company.

HHC: Nice. What's your favorite car?
Right now I just got a new one. It's a Lincoln Continental. It's the same one that president Kennedy was assassinated in. It's a hard car to find. You won't see anyone else having it. When people see it in the street they're amazed. They're like "Wow, what is that?"

HHC: What's the hottest car that you have worked on at the shop?
We took two different parts and put them together to make a Dooley truck, a really long truck. David Banner saw it and now we're doing one for him. Also a Cadillac we have has a Phantom Rolls Royce grill on it, and it has Phantom Rolls Royce lights. So from the front it looks like a Phantom Rolls Royce, but it's a Cadillac.

HHC: Sounds cool. I will have to check it out for myself. Let's take it back to the music for another minute. What is the most important aspect of the music industry that you feel a person coming up in it, should pay the most attention to?
One, creativity. The creative people are the people who break through. Whether it's Hyphy, Crunk or whatever else, the first person that comes with it normally has success. Two, learn the game. This is a business and you definitely have to learn the business aspect to it. Three, you have to stay humble too because anything that can be given to you, can be taken from you just as easily.

HHC: In regards to the business aspect, do you think that someone should be real business minded themselves, or have someone in their crew that is business minded, or you think it just comes with the territory as you get involved more?
Nah, I think you should be business minded yourself. You can't have anyone else doing that. I know people who got messed over because they had someone else handling it, and they didn't know the business themselves. I definitely think you should know as much about the business as possible, whatever it is, before you dive head first into it.

HHC: Nice… okay so one last question. What's your most favorite thing in the world?
Quiet I guess. When I get to just be at peace and there's nothing around, no phone, nothing else, just me. I get to just think. I don't get too much time of that, because of shows, interviews, traveling, so when I get some alone time, I learn to appreciate it.

Editor's note: For more on Chamillionaire you can visit his website at http://www.chamillionaireonline.com or his MySpace profile at http://www.myspace.com/chamillionaire.