By Ismael AbduSalaam
Platinum and Grammy-award winning Houston rapper Chamillionaire is in the early stages of creating Venom, his third major label offering in the last three years.
The album is the follow-up to the sophomore 2007 release Ultimate Victory, which garnered critical acclaimed but failed to meet the platinum-plus sales of Chamillionaire’s 2005 debut The Sound of Revenge.
That debut was powered by “Ridin,” the groundbreaking digital single crowned as the biggest selling ringtone ever at 5 million plus sales.
As a result, the RIAA has acknowledged him as the first “Mastertone” artist in music history.
Now in light of the music industry’s difficult sales climate, Chamillionaire has focused on a concerted marketing campaign to ensure the new album’s success.
On November 23 the rapper will drop Mixtape Messiah 5, the next installment in the critically acclaimed series just 3 months after the previous tape.
The mixtape will be available from the newly designed Chamillionaire.com.
The re-launched site includes exclusive performance footage, video blogs, merchandise, music, news, and special giveaways.
The website also showcases artists from Chamillitary Records, Chamillionaire’s new label that has secured distribution from Universal Republic.
The lead “single” from Mixtape Messiah 5 is the “Swagger Like Us Remix,” where Chamillionaire borrows T.I.’s hit to question the definition of swag and its use by rappers to mask a lack of lyrical skill.
At press time, Chamillionaire has yet to announce a release date for Venom.