Chamillionaire
Back Room, Wednesday, March 15
Engaging in the traditional how-many-rappers-can-be-squeezed-onstage-at-once, Houston’s Chamillionaire bombarded the Back Room with a barrage of frenetic raps and singsong hooks. Running through hits like a muscled-up Escalade, the gold-certified MC performed the first two songs from Get Ya Mind Correct, Play-N-Skillz productions “Call Me” and “Ridin’,” The Sound of Revenge highlights “In the Trunk” and “Turn It Up,” as well as the Mixtape Messiah version of “Slow Jamz.” Recalling the time when he and former partner Paul Wall were booed off of a Houston comedy club stage, Chamillionaire reveled in the prospect that “some of those same folks are now loving it right here in the front row tonight.” While skeptics might have been turned off by Cham’s rhyming over vocal backing tracks, the agile rapper eventually ran circles around his double-timed verses. As the audience engaged in choirlike recitals of his choruses during the showcase, many a fan could be heard in the parking lot afterwards echoing, “They see me rollin’, they hatin’, patrollin’, and tryn’ to catch me ridin’ dirty.” Infesting memory banks with his Texas drawl, Cham foreshadowed his ballyhooed all-ages Sunday evening show at La Zona Rosa.
This article appears in March 24 • 2006.