One year after beating cancer, this young rapper signs an artist deal with Future’s label

BY SELINA MCCALLUM

This young rapper from Mississauga survived cancer during the pandemic, now he’s signed to American rapper, Future’s label, Freebandz.

In August 2020, Kamal Palmer, better known as Chillaa, was diagnosed with cancer. After six rounds of chemotherapy and 20 rounds of radiation he was successfully able to overcome the disease to tell his story through a song he released in 2021 called “Cancer Freestyle”.

One year later, the rapper stayed consistent and put in the hard work for his music career.

“Over the past year, I’ve been slowly recovering after all of that craziness I went through with cancer treatments and making sure that I was ready to attack the music field again with full force. I’ve just been preparing to make a return to the music scene,” said Chillaa.

The rapper hopes that his music will leave an impact on people for years to come.

“I want people to get that nostalgia feeling when they listen to my music 10 years from now. I want them to say, ‘I remember when I listened to this guy’s music, I was here’. I want my music to bring back a feeling or an emotion. I want them to have fun, turn up and dance to my music,” said Chillaa. “I want people to tell me they met because of my song. I want experiences like that.” 

Chillaa has already started on this dream as he recently shot a music video for his new song called Barbados. The song has a chill, island-vibe beat and an upbeat melody that has potential to be a hit song for Toronto summers. The music video was shot partly in Toronto and in Barbados.

Earlier this year, Chillaa saw his world flip upside down when he was signed by one of his biggest role models in music.

Freebandz (FBG) is an international full service entertainment company founded by Grammy award winning, multi-platinum recording artist Future in 2011.

As a recording label and full-service organization, the company supports a diverse roster of talent via label services, artist management, music publishing, production, touring, strategic brand development, merchandising and more.

“The day I got signed with Future’s label, FBG, it was like a full circle. The day I finished my last cancer treatment, a year later is when I signed with Future on the exact day, February 17^th.” Said Chillaa. “Everything happens for a reason. The day they told me I had cancer, I said this there’s a reason this happened, and I don’t know what it is right now, but I’m going to beat it. I went through it, and it literally took me to Future and his team.”

From a young age, the rapper knew that getting signed with Future was the goal. What inspires him is Future’s melodic tones and says his style of music is also very similar.

“Future has the work ethic that will push you to be the best artist, producer that you can ever be,” said Chillaa. “It’s not possible to not become one of the best being around Future.”

It was Future’s brother, FBG Goat, who brought Chillaa into the crew. The Mississauga rapper went to Memphis to meet FBG Goat, who is a Billboard songwriter, artist and producer, and the rest has been history.

“They treat me like family now. It’s not even like I’m an artist or producer signed to them, they look at me like a brother now. It’s honestly a dream come true. Honestly everything is just starting now. I’ve been making music for a long time, but this is the real beginning and I’m excited,” said Chillaa.

Everyone in Chillaa’s family is in the music industry. His father is a reggae artist, Terminal DG, his mother is a manager and his sister is a DJ known as DJ Rosegold.

Chillaa has worked with other local talent from the Greater Toronto Area for years, one of them being Nav, a Canadian rapper who co-produced Drake’s single “Back to Back” in 2015.

Now he looks forward to songs he worked on with FGB Goat to come out, and a music video release coming soon as well.

As for his health, there is no trace of cancer in his body now. He monitors his body and makes healthy choices. In 2021, he teamed up with ‘Makeship’ to release an exclusive Chillaa plushie toy that was only available for 21 days and a percentage of the proceeds was donated towards Lymphoma cancer research.

Chillaa’s story touched thousands of people around the world, including the media platform Complex, who asked him to be on their live streamed show on Twitch after hearing his music and story. The show, Type Beat Battle, is a competition where two producers are given sounds on the spot that they have to make a beat with, within 40 minutes. He was the first Canadian producer to win four times in a row.

The Mississauga rapper thanks his music for getting him into rooms where he witnessed greatness in the music industry happening. He was able to meet other talented and powerful rappers like Ye and Kendrick Lamar.

Chillaa is definitely one to watch as he continues to grow as an international artist and an artist a part of the FBG label bringing a new sound and vibe to the roster of artists.