Chingy

The spirit of St. Louis lands at Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam Recordings with the return of double platinum-selling rapper Chingy, who rejoins the label where it all began for him in the summer of 2003. HATE IT OR LOVE IT, Chingy's fourth album in as many years, will arrive in stores on December 18th.

The hypnotic debut single from HATE IT OR LOVE IT is "Fly Like Me," featuring platinum R&B singer (and VIBE 'Club Banger of the Year') Amerie. "Many of my fans are women," Chingy says of "Fly Like Me," "so I wanted to create a track that spoke directly to them." The single, co-written by Disturbing Tha Peace CEO and fellow DTP/Def Jam artist Ludacris and producer L.T. Moe, was released November 13th. The video, directed by Jessy Terrero, made its debut last week on BET.

In addition to the album intro and "Fly Like Me," L.T. Moe also produced "How We Feel" featuring Anthony Hamilton with additional vocals from Ice Cube; "Trickin' Off Skit" with additional vocals by Diamond of Crime Mob; and "2 Kool 2 Dance." Among the guest producers credited on HATE IT OR LOVE IT are Full Scale ("Gimme Dat" featuring Ludacris and DTP's Bobby Valentino), Cool & Dre ("Roll On 'Em" featuring Rick Ross), Bei Maejor ("Spend Some $" featuring Trey Songz), and Calvo Da Gr8 ("All Aboard (Ride It)" featuring Steph Jones).

Other producers include The Co-Stars ("Hate It Or Love It"), Michael Davis ("Check My Swag"), Jared Gosselin ("Kick Drum"), Kevin 'Khao' Cates ("Lovely Ladies"), and The Ghost Writers ("Blockstar"). Recording sessions for HATE IT OR LOVE IT took place in Chingy's adopted new hometown of Atlanta, and Miami, Los Angeles, London, and Texas.

Chingy began rapping as a kid in his native St. Louis, citing Run-DMC and Ice Cube as early heroes. "I also listen to my share of old school music," he says, "so I know as much about Luther Vandross as I do about NWA." He blew into Atlanta in his early 20s and got scooped up by DTP, who scored with a trifecta of Top 3 pop/R&B/Rap crossover hits – "Right Thurr," the RIAA gold "Holidae In" (featuring Ludacris and Snoop Dogg), and RIAA gold "One Call Away." They collectively sent his 2003 debut album Jackpot to double-platinum, and turned the laid-back rapper into a household name, teen dream sex symbol and fly-boy lyricist.

In 2006, Chingy began his own label, Slot-A-Lot Records (via Capitol) which bowed in 2006 with his third album, the RIAA gold Hoodstar. The first single, "Pullin' Me Back" featuring Tyrese (and produced by Jermaine Dupri) was a solid worldwide smash – #1 Rap/#1 R&B and Top 10 on the Hot 100 at home, and Top 40 in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and so on. The follow-up single and video, "Dem Jeans" featured and was produced by Dupri.

Since 2003, Chingy has maintained a high-profile on tv, with appearances ranging from NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tyra Banks Show, the syndicated Ellen, and Mad TV – to episodes of My Wife and Kids, One On One, The George Lopez Show, Tinseltown TV, Cribs, Punk'd, Sex TV, and more. Chingy also appeared as himself in last year's Scary Movie 4.

Chingy's reunion with the DTP crew reveals a newly grounded artist, whose growth and maturity have taken aim at pop critics who verbally slam hip-hop culture. "Those who are attacking rap need to take a closer look at the communities that produce this music," he says. "They are ignoring the real problems like poverty and poor school systems, then they blame the very people who are the victims. Rappers aren't creating these problems, we're just telling the world about the dramas we see."