Life After Rap: Chamillionaire’s Successful Transition Into Tech
Drake once sang that he wants to be making music forever. Not just creating, but also relevant in an industry that’s tough to last in. Every year, we see countless rappers come and go, and fade into obscurity. Having a run is looked at as an accomplishment, but staying in a run is an idea that only a few can achieve. Names like Jay Z, Raekwon, Too Short, and even Eminem continue to thrive in musically.
Even the most talented artists can fall off, so is it worth knowing when to leave the game and more onto other ventures? Absolutely. Rappers dabble into different business ideas all the time ranging from liquor to restaurants or real estate. A lot of times, it’s worth it to flip what you make in the rap game into a project that can become successful and still bring in an income.
This is exactly the path that Chamillionaire has taken.
When I wrote about how Juelz Santana wasted his potential, someone in the comments felt that Chamillionaire deserved a similar piece. I started to think about it. Chamillionaire took off hard in the mixtape circuit. Mixtape Messiah had an undeniably amazing run. He also only has two albums with the last one dating back to 2007. On paper, he’s faced a fate just like Juelz. His catalog is only slightly larger.
Unlike Juelz, though, Chamillionaire has immersed himself into the entrepreneurial field. Back in 2003, he co-founded Fly Rydes, an automotive company that “designs, rents, and sells cars to corporations and high net worth individuals.” Since car culture was big in Houston, the decision worked out well. His website bio also says he owns a tour bus company and started a modeling agency, but finding more information on those led to dead ends.
Chamillionaire’s biggest move came in February this year when it was announced he was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Upfront Ventures, a startup L.A. company owned by Mark Susters. It’s the first time a rapper has been appointed that title. It wasn’t out of the blue either. Cham met Mark in 2009 and invested into his online video talent agency, Maker Studios, that’s now owned by Disney. It forged a partnership that led Mark to find out Cham wanted to get more into the tech business.
One thing to note about Chamillionaire’s music career is that he still has a huge loyal fanbase. He’s definitely not being brought up in any mainstream conversations nowadays, but he had a profitable store that sold his catalog of mixtapes, merch, and more. He interacted with his fans and they loved him for it. Cham might never have a hit again, but he had more than enough to continue to make a living in rap.
There’s one piece of material that’s worth watching/reading. Mark did a lengthy interview with Chamillionaire in 2010 that broke down his marketing skills. As anybody who followed him knows, he made a name for himself in the streets by selling his tapes out of the trunk. The interview chronicles some of the experimenting he did with his career before outlets like Twitter and MySpace.
What I took away most is how much sense it made for Chamillionaire to join Upfront Ventures. He was not afraid to try something new for his music to go further. The drive was strong in him. On many occasions, he was ahead of the curve like building an email list in the ’90s and early 2000s and knowing how to create demand. These abilities translate into the tech field nicely.
When I think of the idea of an artist wasting their potential, Chamillionaire doesn’t come to mind. Sure, his music career could’ve and should’ve been bigger. Venom deserved to be released, but he made the sacrifice to leave Universal and had to leave behind all the songs, including a Pimp C feature/beat titled “Naked Lady.” Cham made the most out of the opportunities presented to him. He used his marketing skills learned in rap to break into the tech industry.
Who knows if he’ll ever release music again. I’m sure it’ll happen one day. When you trade in one passion for another, you never fully leave behind your first love. I still think his three EPs in 2012–13 are under-appreciated.
Nonetheless, Chamillionaire is a smart individual. While Drake will probably be making music “forever,” a lot of rappers won’t. They should look at Cham as a source of inspiration for a post-music career. No matter what you do, there’s lessons to be learned from Chamillionaire.
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