Candy Coated

Eye Candy takes a back seat to candy paint in a houston artist’s video. Chamillionaire tells why h-town whips received grooming preference at his “ridin’ dirty” video shoot.

Story maurice bobb /// Photography zach cordner

If hip-hop video directors had their way, that Sprite slogan would have to be flipped to fit their clients: image is everything, obey your shine.

So it’s par for the course for rappers looking to cement their ballin’ imagery to corral video vixens and rented luxury whips into their four minutes of fame. But Chamillionaire, born Hakeem Seriki 25 years ago to a Muslim father and Christian mother, is going against the grain.

Instead of frontin’ in rented Phantoms and Bentley coupes, the MC from Houston’s infamous North Side is shooting the video for his new joint, “Ridin’ Dirty,” with his own customized fleet of whips.

“I brought out all the whips from my own custom shop,” says the self-proclaimed Mixtape Messiah. Co-owner of Fly Rides with partner Big E, Cham has been putting more candy on the streets of Houston than Willy Wonka. “A lot of people can rent a car for their video and get something anybody can have, but I use my own. These are cars you’re not going to see on the streets.”

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