Chingy
You Can Take the Boy Out of the Hood…
At only 26, rapper Chingy has already released his third album in four years. With the latest, Hoodstar, he rhymes about his rise from the Walnut Park ghetto of St. Louis, Missouri, to his current status in the spotlight.
Chingy raps to Zeeks about how to get into the hip-hop game, dating fans and his childhood ambition.
Zeeks: How do you feel about putting out a "clean" version of your new album, Hoodstar?
Chingy: "If kids, like your readers, want to get the album, it's just so they won't be hearing too many bad words. I think it's a necessary thing to do."
Z: Was there a lot to clean up?
Chingy: "No, there wasn't too much stuff on my album that I had to clean up because when I make my music I don't curse that much. I may have a curse word here and there to express myself."
Z: When you were 10 years old, you made a demo. How did you accomplish that?
Chingy: "I started writing my own music at eight (years old). I knew that's what I wanted to do. I was already familiar with the whole studio thing. I knew some people but they were charging (money) to get studio time so one of my cousins paid for me to make a demo and we just went in there and did a couple of songs."
Z: What you were writing about back then?
Chingy: Actually, it was more of a battle thing. I can still remember the rap that I had that I wrote when I was 10. It was a knuckle-up."
Z: How can a kid get the skills to rhyme - the breath control, the flow?
Chingy: "All I can say is keep practicing your raps. The more and more you rehearse it, the better you'll know how to say it and how to word it and how to phrase it."
Z: We can download Chingy ringtones. What's on your cell?
Chingy: "Actually, my ringtone is the Fergie song 'London Bridge'."
Z: Do you visit any websites regularly?
Chingy: "Not too much. Probably MySpace."
Z: Do you go to your own page, myspace.com/chingy, and read some of the comments?
Chingy: "Yeah, I read some of them and I reply to some people when I have time."
Z: Anything funny or cool in those comments?
Chingy: "Just the women, saying they love you and to call them, and the guys on there promoting their music. It's crazy."
Z: So, the fan question then -- have you ever dated one?
Chingy: "I've dated a fan before. It's cool. It's hard to keep dating somebody when they're just infatuated with you being Chingy.
Z: Have you ever helped out a fan who gave you a demo tape?
Chingy: No, I haven't done that yet, where somebody came with their demo, but in the future, I'm pretty sure that will happen."
