Chingy Might’ve Reinvented Himself As The Most Fascinating Rapper On The Planet

Chingy would like you to know that he's doing just fine, thanks. The one-time king of pop-centric rap radio in the mid-2000s has kept a low profile over the past five years, taking a step back from a music industry that seemingly no longer wanted him; after three straight Top-10 albums and massive hit records like "Right Thurr" and "Holidae In," his 2007 effort Hate It Or Love It massively underperformed, and Chingy would leave Def Jam and DTP Records to go independent shortly thereafter.

But to hear him tell it, he didn't leave the major label scene by choice. After a photo he took with a fan turned into a full-fledged scandal in 2009 when the woman announced she was transgendered and had maintained a relationship with the St. Louis rapper, he claims he was dropped by his label and blackballed by the industry, and no amount of denials or retractions—the woman in question, Sidney Starr, admitted she was lying in 2012—could reverse the narrative. For Chingy, his time in the spotlight was over.

But rather than retreat and lick his wounds, Chingy hurled himself full-time into something he'd been dabbling in for years—school, specifically the University Of Khemetian Sciences, which uses the principles and theories of ancient Egyptian philosophy as the basis for classes in numerology, astrology, metaphysics and cosmology, among others. His Instagram is littered with his thoughts on the subjects of patterns, the movements of the planets and stars and symbolism in modern day culture, leading many publications, including XXL, to wonder if he had gone off the deep end into wild conspiracy theories.

But Chingy has re-emerged with a new record label, Fulldekk Music Group, and a new mixtape, the crew compilation Fulldekk Fullosiphy, and hearing him speak these days, he doesn't sound like a conspiracy theorist so much as someone trying to make sense of a world that has put him on a hell of a rollercoaster ride over the past decade-plus. As he cautiously steps back into the music game, Chingy spoke to XXL about his new projects—including his new single "Damn Girl"—his degrees in numerology, astrology and cosmology and if, after all this time away, his heart is still in music. It's the new Tao of Chingy. —Dan Rys