Chamillionaire's Says "Ridin'" Wasn't Supposed To Be A Single: 'They Wanted Me To Spend $250K On A Timbaland Beat and I Wouldn't Do It'
Chamillionaireās āRidinā was never supposed to be a hit, yet alone a single!
The Texas native revealed the alarming fact about his iconic 2005 single after completely remixing the track alongside fellow emcee Krayzie Bone for a new CarMax ad.
āHonestly, I never tried to make a hit,ā said Chamillionaire during an interview with HipHopDX. āI always was a person who just tried to make something that I thought would resonate with people. And you got to think about this concept. Everybody, it doesnāt matter whether youāre committing a crime or not, when you see police, you feel like you shiver up and put your seatbelt on.ā
Inspiration for "Ridin'"
Although the 42-year-old entertainer turned businessman wasnāt aiming for a smash hit, āRidinā was more than well-received by the culture, ultimately earning Chamillionaire a multi-platinum track. Itās been 22 years since the song dropped and heās picking up right where he left off by having fun with his flow.
āYou make sure that youāre not breaking any rule, and there was never a theme song for that. I used to feel that feeling all the time, coming from where I come from, because when youāre young and coming up in the urban area, sometimes youāre going to have interactions with police,ā Chamillionaire added, further explaining the inspiration for the track, according to HipHopDX.
Talent Always Wins In The End
While the music meant a lot to Chamillionaire due to the sheer fact that he was able to recruit one of his favorite emcees, Krayzie Bone, to lay down a verse on the track, the label did not want to put the money behind it to push the song as a single.
āMy first single cost me like $150,000 for the beat, and they wanted me to go spend $250,000 on a Timbaland beat, and I wouldnāt do it,ā he recalled during an interview with the outlet. āThen they were forced to have to put out the song that I wanted, which was Ridinā. That didnāt cost that much to make. And then it just went to the world. I remember being in Jamaica and all the kids, they were screaming the song. It was just everywhere I was going because everybody had that relationship with police, and I was just like, āOK, we got something here.āā
Check out the rebirth of the track in the new CarMax ad below.