Chamillionaire emerges from underground

Now the ball is in Houston's court.

Houston is the latest city to put a stranglehold on the Billboard music charts with its chopped and screwed movement — the art of remixing a rap song by slowing its tempo, started by the city's DJ Screw in the early 1990s.

And H-Town artists such as Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Lil' Flip and now Hakeem Seriki, known to fans around the country as Chamillionaire, have quickly become household names with the national hip-hop community.

"Houston coming up probably could have happened a long time ago," said Seriki in a phone interview last week from Texas.

The artist comes through the Rialto Wednesday with Lil' Flip.

He added, "But I don't think we were ready. I don't think Houston was as comfortable as it is now. Houston knows what its sound is now. It knows its style and is confident in the whole screwed thing.

"People get tired of the same ol' same ol'. You can see that with the music transferring from market to market. Chopped and screwed music is a breath of fresh air."

Though Seriki tends to shy away from the chopped and screwed sound, the 26-year-old has been immersed in Houston's hip-hop scene since his late teens.

Dubbed Chamillionaire for his versatile lyrical abilities, Seriki began his career as a promoter but quickly realized the potential in producing his own music.

Together with childhood friend and fellow rapper Paul Wall, Seriki joined up with DJ Michael "5000" Watts before eventually going out on his own, producing popular compilations that earned him the moniker, among others, of the Mix Tape Messiah. As an independent artist, Chamillionaire sold more than 100,000 copies of his own works.

His underground music even reached the streets of Tucson, as Seriki found out on his first trip to the Old Pueblo in January.

"There were a lot of people in Tucson who know about my underground stuff," he said. "That kind of surprised me. But I got to remember people take that stuff to military bases. People bootleg that stuff and it spreads out so far over the Internet. I shouldn't really be surprised to see a bunch of my fans anywhere I go."

Now touring off of his major-label debut, "The Sound of Revenge," released in November on Universal Records, Chamillionaire is reaching scores of new fans through national album sales and mainstream radio play.

That's one reason the young artist said he was a little more careful about what he put on his latest release.

"When you are underground you can do what you want," Seriki said. "It is hit and miss. You can throw stuff out there and see what works. With a major album it is a lot more technical. A lot more people have their money invested in the project. You have to go through a formula. You have issues with producers and with getting all the tracks.

"With this album I didn't want to bring a street record. I know what label I'm on and I know sometimes people don't understand those types of records. I try to walk that line. Give the street world something and the commercial world something."

"The Sound of Revenge" certainly has had the commercial appeal, selling more than 500,000 copies to reach gold status in the United States. His single "Turn it Up" reached the No. 9 spot on the Billboard rap charts.

Seriki said the secret to the album's success can be found in his unique flow.

"I don't sound like any other Houston artist," he said. "I think a lot of people expected me to come with the whole Texas chopped and screwed hooks thing, and I didn't do that. I've always been kind of an outcast like that. I give my audience different styles."

Quick Take

Chamillionaire and Lil' Flip in concert

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 5

Where: Rialto Theatre

Tickets: $26 through the Rialto box office, 740-1000