Steve 'Flash' JuonYou should already know the name by now. Chamillionaire’s name first rang nationally on “Get Ya Mind Correct,” then when creative differences seperated him from Paul Wall he started releasing albums on his own like “Greatest Hits” and even putting his brother Rasaq on with self-distributed albums like “Ghetto Status.” Cham is a self-described “Mixtape Messiah” though and like revenge, is a dish best served cold and all by itself. While you’re waiting for another serving on his album “The Sound of Revenge” coming out this fall you could always check out one of his albums like “Chamillitary,” which are getting national distribution now thanks to the BCD Music Group.
This album is what you make of it. There is no track listing on the back, and there are no liner notes to speak of on the inside save for an advertisement by BCD that shows the other titles they’ve put out, including some DJ Screw compilations. A few people braver or wiser than me have attempted to put names to some of the 19 tracks on this near 60 minute release. For example track 10 has been labelled by some as the “Victory Flow,” likely due to the fact that Chamillionaire is rhyming over a beat most would recognize as the “Victory” song featuring P. Diddy, Biggie and Busta Rhymes. It may not be his own shit, but Cham still shines on it:
“Gimmick rappers, can’t lie forever
But as long as I’m here, gimmick rappers gon’ die together
Told lil’ mama I love drama, no one tried to tell her
She shoulda left the club, instead of tryin to find a fella
The villain’s born, dark storms that’s my kind of weather
Sending gimmick niggaz to the mall, to go buy umbrellas
Like Eminem was tellin them that they should dye it yellow
Some of my fans they look like Cham, but say I am better
Picture the though of that, since no one spit a harder rap
I told her that I’m Jay-hova’s lil’ brother, the God of rap
Don’t play me like you a atheist, face it it’s more fact
Gimmick rappers have heart attacks, when you tell ’em the God is back
The problem is more than that, like Iraq when the gats in ’em
You diss me you gon’ be done, like a snack when the rats get ’em
After the baptism, the blap and the blap hit ’em
No need for that, gat, cause fact is the raps kill ’em
Live your life like a mockery, niggaz will see the prophecy
Stare at a flight of stairs, ‘fore you ever think you on top of me”
Two things Chamillionaire has in spades – a vicious non-stop flow and a penchant to talk a lot of shit. Not many people should get away with rapping over other people’s beats and releasing it as an album nationally, but you have to admit when you hear Cham spit over Cassidy’s “I’m a Hustler” he really does turn it into a wholly new song:
“Naw mayn I’m not Blood deep or Crip deep, six feet of click deep
How deep? This deep – nine milli’, clip deep
With this heat, a body builder turn into a pipsqueak
They turn to vegetarians, they don’t wanna end up mince meat
You’ll see, where the mortuary is at I know you miss me
Snatch the gat BRRAP and lyrically wreck that ass officially
I see you livin fairy tales, niggaz better switch beefs
I’ll have the tooth fairy choke his ass up out of his sleep
Problem with Chamillionaire, but do they mention me name
Hell naw you Scarecrows, just try your best to be brave
Got a Smith-N-Wesson, but we know that you gon’ behave
On safety, you Locksmith like you could get a key made
You’re all up on the thang like lil’ girls turnin teenage
You’re really a bunch of hoes, like 6th Street at Texas Relays”
In fairness you can’t really give Chamillionaire any kind of credit here for the tracks he raps on, except for having the choice to pick some good ones. As a prelude to “The Sound of Revenge” though Cham proves himself to be just as good a freestyler if not better than Houston’s self-proclaimed “Freestyle King” Lil’ Flip. If you can’t wait until the official release and this doesn’t get pulled from store shelves for jacking beats (hell he might have paid for ’em I have no way of knowing) then “Chamillitary” will tide you over in the meantime with fat beats and rhymes.