Vibe.com: What was the SXSW experience like for you?

SXSW was as a very good experience for me again this year. I have performed at previous SXSW events and I always get a lot of love from the fans and a lot of good publicity.

Did you get to see any other acts? If so, which were your favorites?

I heard Devin the dude performed the day after I performed but I didn't get a chance to check him out. I had to leave because I had another show in Bryan/ College Station. I also wanted to check out the Screwed Up Click performance but my schedule didn't allow that.

Your album Sound of Revenge came out in November. Have you been working on a new album?

I haven't been working on any other music but my Mixtape Messiah Part 2 CD, but ill be getting back in the studio during and after tour. I believe in getting the most out my singles so Im gonna push the album until I feel like I can't get anything else out of it. I sold over 500,000 records with one single. I still have a couple more singles to go and a lot more records I can sell. I will drop another album at the end of this year.

What are you doing differently on this one?

Now that I'm a little more established nationally I'll be able to do what I want with this album. I have the public's ear and the label definitely has more confidence in my music now that they are seeing success with my album. I won't say too much about any new album now though. Ill let my music do the talking. I have my swagger tight right now.

You're preparing for a tour with Lil Flip. What can fans expect from your live shows?

They will see a much more personal show than just an average club show. They will have a better feel of who Chamillionaire is and will see a lot of energy. Any fans coming to the tour dates better be ready to work because I'm not gonna allow them to just stand there starin' at my jewelry. They gonna have to work. We are performing in a lot of House of Blues venues so my game will be up a notch.





Vibe.com: Along with your crew the Dirty South Rydaz, you sold 350,000 copies of one of your albums independently. How did you do that?

Big Tuck: We were grinding pretty much. With our own money we hit every city and surrounding areas. Dallas to Houston, Houston to Louisiana, Louisiana to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas. We were just driving. We brought a whole bunch of our CDs and we would give stores like 10 CDs on consignment. We'd try to sell the CDs and if we didn't sell ‘em we'd give them to the person with the tightest car. A lot of people always gather around the dude who has the tightest car.
We also just spent a bunch of money giving out CDs and people just got familiar with our name. We were drilling our name into their faces. Then they started selling and stores couldn't keep ‘em in.

What's it like being on a major label now?

It pretty much just started over, like the grind we did. We've kind of got to a comfortable spot now that we signed with Universal. We gotta start all the way back from scratch like go back to the same places but I guess that's a good thing. Keeps us working.

Tell us about the new album.

It drops June 13. I have one solo album out called Purple Hook. That was my first solo album. I sold like 175,000 of those so hopefully this next one will do good too. I have Chamillionaire, Bun B, Paul Wall, Slim Thug and Erykah Badu on it. Right now I'm looking for a Lil' Jon track.

I see you've got a grill. Did Paul Wall do it?

I did it! I do all the custom pieces like pink diamonds. I switch ‘em up I've got like four different kinds. I got one all yellow, one all blue and one that says ‘Tuck’ on top.

Who else would you want to work with?

I'm a real live artist. I don't want to just do hip hop. I want to be three-dimensional. I want to do some stuff with R. Kelly, Missy, Dre, G-Unit. Everybody. I just want to be everywhere. I love doing this.

The Houston scene got huge this year. Do you think your hometown of Dallas could blow up like that?

We have our own sound. Houston has the syrupy, riding, listen to music. Dallas is ener-super-duper-getic. It's super energized. It's a new sound, new flavor a new twist. There's a couple people that are real hot like Mr. Pookie and Mr. Lucci.