American musician, rapper, and businessman Chamillionaire has a $50 million fortune. He has made much of his net worth from his multiple business activities and investments in addition to his successful singing career. He also serves as the CEO of the entertainment company Chamillitary Entertainment.
Early Years
On November 28, 1979, Hakeem Seriki, better known by his stage moniker Chamillionaire, was born in Washington, DC. When he was three years old, the family relocated to Houston, Texas. He developed an interest in rap music while he was a student at Jersey Village High School. Rasaq Seriki, his younger brother, is also a rapper.
Career in Music
A combination of the words “chameleon” and “millionaire,” the stage name “Chamillionaire” was created. While promoting at a gathering, Seriki and his friend and fellow rapper Paul Wall encountered Michael “5000” Watts, a well-known mixtape DJ active in the Houston region.
Additionally, they persuaded Watt to allow them to freestyle on the intro to his radio show on Houston hip-hop station KBXX-FM in exchange for helping to promote Watt’s business, Swishahouse. They were quickly regulars in the Houston rap scene and mixtape circuit when Watt’s included their freestyles on one of his mixtapes.
The Color Changin’ Click was founded by Seriki and Wall. Additionally, they collaborated on the 2002 album “Get Ya Mind Correct,” which garnered over 150,000 sales. The Color Changin’ Click also gave a performance at the SXSW music festival in 2004. In 2002, the album was nominated by The Source Magazine for indie album of the year.
In 2005, Seriki’s “The Sound of Revenge” solo debut album was made available through Chamilitary Entertainment and Universal Records. It premiered and peaked at No. 10 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and the RIAA later granted it platinum certification. The album also included the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit single “Ridin’,” which also earned him the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
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Seriki’s second studio album, “Ultimate Victory,” from 2007, included guests like UGK, Lil Wayne, Devin the Dude, and Lloyd. He had intended to release a third album titled “Venom” in 2011, however, after parting ways with Universal Records, the project was shelved. In March 2012, he released an EP titled “Ammunition,” and “Poison,” his third studio album, was scheduled to arrive in 2013. But as of February 2020, it hasn’t been made available.
Seriki has released a number of highly popular mixtape releases in addition to his studio albums. In 2004, he published “The Mixtape Messiah,” the longest and best-selling mixtape in Texas history with 61 tracks spread across 3 CDs. It was also the first mixtape in the Mixtape Messiah series, which would go on to become one of his most well-known and eagerly awaited endeavors.
There were seven mixtapes in the series overall, and they were released in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Chamillionaire launched the “Major Pain” mixtape series in 2009, releasing the first album in February 2010. In April 2011, he released the second “Major Pain” episode. The mixtapes “Badazz Freemixes,” “Badazz Freemixes 2,” and “Badazz Slowmixes” then followed.
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Investments and Business
He started his own record label, Chamillitary Entertainment, in 2004. He has an artist contract, along with Lil Ken and Troy Henry. Yung Ro, 50/50 Twin, and Rasaq, the younger brother of Seriki, are ex-artists. The label has more than 20 releases total between mixtapes and albums. Previously distributed by Universal Records, Chamillitary Entertainment has become independent since Seriki cut ties with the major label in January 2011.
Seriki made a 2003 investment in Fly Rydes, a car dealer based in Houston. The business specialized in automotive customization, which he pointed out is particularly common in Texas. Additionally, Seriki established the modeling agency Masterpiece Mind Frame. The Global Innovation Tournament was established in 2009 as a part of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar Series by Seriki and Quincy Jones III.
Also in 2009, he made an investment in Maker Studios, a network of online video talent that Disney subsequently purchased for $500 million. Seriki invested $1.5 million in Maker Studios at the beginning, and he reportedly received more than $20 million from the sale.
In 2015, he established a partnership with Mark Suster, the managing partner of the venture capital firm Upfront Ventures and the founder of Maker Studios, which aided in his appointment as the company’s entrepreneur in residence. Since then, he has taken a little time away from music to focus more on his business endeavors.
Among Seriki’s other business endeavors is a 2013 investment in Cruise Automation, a self-driving automation technology firm. This was a very successful investment since the company was later sold to General Motors for nearly $1 billion in 2016. He and rapper E-40 declared in May 2019 that they would contribute $25,000 to a startup run led by a woman or someone of color. They made an investment in the quarter-size shoe retailer Atoms that September.