Published: Monday - January 14, 2008
Words by Tonya Raymond
Chingy (Photo: Def Jam)
Since making his presence known in 2003, C-H-I-N-G-Y has made a stamp in the music industry with hit singles such as "Pullin' Me Back," "Holidae In" and who could forget the song that started it all -- "Right Thurr." But with much success comes controversy and in 2004 Chingy made a shocking move by leaving DTP due to money issues. This move might not have been the smartest, however, he made the best of the situation, releasing his sophomore album, Powerballin', that very same year. Two years later, Chingy dropped his third album Hood Star under Slot-A-Lot Records, his own music label. But even gaining some success from both albums, in April 2007, Chingy decided to return to his roots, reuniting with DTP.
BallerStatus.com caught up with the St. Louis native to talk about music, some of the tracks on his latest album, Hate It Or Love It, and his take on hip-hop.
BallerStatus.com: Some people may or may not know, but you are once again with Ludacris and the Disturbing Tha Peace. How did that come about?
Chingy: We were all in Vegas (for the Billboard Awards), we ran into each other and stayed in the same hotel and we just talked it out. It was a total misunderstanding, so we just sat down, talked about it and put it in the past, and next thing you know we just came together.
BallerStatus.com: Do you regret leaving in the first place?
Chingy: I mean, you know, nah. It's just a learning process.
BallerStatus.com: You also left Capital Records and moved to Def Jam. Why that change?
Chingy: Well, first of all I don't think Capitol Records knew how to promote different artists like that, so my lawyers got me off Capitol and at the time, I was going to Disturbing Tha Peace, so I just signed to Def Jam.
BallerStatus.com: Besides working on your new album, which we'll get to in a minute, what have you been up to since we last heard from you?
Chingy: Working on my new project and just chilling and just letting everything go from there.
BallerStatus.com: You starred in the movie, "The System Within." How was that experience?
Chingy: "The System Within" was an independent film that I came across. It was cool. It was a low budget film, but I mean it still got recognition. It was a good experience.
BallerStatus.com: Is this something you're willing to do more of?
Chingy: Oh yeah. I mean I did a couple TV shows -- "Scary Movie 3." I'm actually writing some scripts myself, so it's definitely something I'll do more of.
BallerStatus.com: Now moving to your album, Hate It or Love It, who's on it?
Chingy: I got Rick Ross on there, Bobby Valentino, Amerie, Trey Songz...
BallerStatus.com: Now you mentioned Amerie, she is featured on "Fly Like Me," why did you go with that as your first single?
Chingy: Because it just felt good. The song felt good. The vibe of the song felt good. It's something pop radio will play and urban radio play and it's just a good look. I just felt good about it.
BallerStatus.com: You said this time around you wanted to talk about other things other than cars and money because you have grown. In what ways do we see this?
Chingy: I said it because I don't have the same interest then I do now.
BallerStatus.com: You also have a track called "Lovely Ladies," which lucky lady inspired you?
Chingy: My Grandmother, my mother, sister... and that is just really for all the women around the world, just showing appreciation.
BallerStatus.com: There's a song on the album, "They Don't Know," I heard it's directed towards Oprah and Bill O'Reilly?
Chingy: I don't actually say their names in the song, but people like that just try to down hip-hop.
BallerStatus.com: Why do you hip-hop is being dubbed a negative influence on society?
Chingy: I don't see hip-hop being a negative influence on society. People don't go and ask Jet Li or they don't go ask Bruce Willis if he's a negative influence on society because of their movie. Their movies are just as violent, so no I don't think hip-hop is a negative influence.
BallerStatus.com: If you could talk to Oprah what would you tell her?
Chingy: If I seen her. I just ain't gonna open up and say "Okay, so you're talking about hip-hop." If she mentioned something about it then I would say something, other than that, I don't hate the lady. I just know that she said something about hip-hop before, but I don't hate her.
BallerStatus.com: Everybody at some point or another has weighed in about hip-hop being dead, alive or somewhere in between. How do you feel?
Chingy: It's not that hip-hop is dead, it's just the technology. The sales are going down and everything like that.
BallerStatus.com: Why should people listen to your album?
Chingy: Because it's a great album, great music and I put a lot of hard work into it.
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