The Throwbackis a recurring column where we deep dive into hit songs from years past.
He’ll then release his new EP,Crown Jewel, this summer.
Chingy yearns for a past era of hip-hop.
Credit: YouTube
“When I came out, they tried to make me urban,” he recalls.
“But my music instantly crossed over and went mainstream and pop.
He proved that as his first three singles not only landed at No.
1 on Billboard’s rap charts but also peaked in the top three of the all-encompassing Hot 100.
But the path began being paved years earlier, having written the track at the age of 16. says the rapper born Howard Bailey Jr. “But this wasn’t an overnight success for me.
I paid my dues, and I grinded and I really put my heart and passion into this.
It seemed like it happened fast, but really it was overdue.
It was time for that to happen for me.”
“That’s just how I talk, so I don’t think nothing of it.”
“It was just every day slang for me and the people I was around.”
“I just know when I hear a beat that matches a song I wrote.”
“People were always like, ‘Say there!'”
“They still do it.
It just don’t stop.
[Laughs] But I appreciate it.”
The staying power doesn’t surprise Chingy, who compares music to antique cars.
“Well, that’s how music is, that’s how ‘Right Thurr’ is.
It’s an antique record, a classic.
What inspires one to write a song about partying at a hotel chain that is far from ballin’?
Well, they say write what you know.
“We used to do that a lot at the Holiday Inn,” he says.
“I had her say, ‘Whatchu doing?’
and then I was like, ‘Nothing, chillin’ at the Holidae In.'”
And so the hook was born.
But, unlike “Right Thurr,” Chingy wasn’t looking to make this a solo effort.
Also undeniable was Snoop Dogg living up to being Snoop Dogg.
“Snoop was smoking the video up,” Chingy recalls with a laugh.
“I didn’t make it, but later on that night Snoop had a party at his house.
He says Snoop believes that “Holidae In” forced people to stop sleeping on him.
“Snoop told me at the time that I resurrected him,” shares Chingy.
“He said that record resurrected him and put him in a whole new light.”
1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.
It also might have helped resurrect the actual Holiday Inn brand.
To this day, people stay at the Holiday Inn based off that song.”
