Sacramento soccer star-turned-music producer is set to release a new album. Who is Chimchilla?
Sacramento native Chimdum Mez used to spend his days on the field as a professional soccer player.
Now he cooks up hip-hop and R&B beats that he releases weekly on Instagram under his professional name, Chimchilla — something he’s done for 382 weeks and counting.
The music producer’s campaign series, called #KeepYaChimUp Fridays, has continued for more than seven years, serving as a showcase of his level of mastery and commitment to consistency.
It once took Mez an entire week to craft a good beat, he said. Now he produces high-quality sounds in a 5- to 10-minute span.
On Friday, Mez will drop his newest beat for the 383rd straight week and debut a new 11-track instrumental album called “Sumthin For the Winter.”
He plans to play the album during a listening party at Tiger Restaurant & Lounge, 722 K St. in downtown Sacramento, from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday. It will be followed by an after-party hosted by hip hop artist Kalan.FrFr.
Mez said his new album is a “soundtrack for the season” with a sound that’s “smooth, introspective and undeniably captivating.”
“Whether you’re winding down in solitude or lost in a moment with someone special, this is music designed to feel like a lavish winter escape,” Mez said, describing it as “moody, immersive and effortlessly cool.”
How did Sacramento producer get into music?
Mez’s desire to get into the music business started long before he ever mixed a track.
Mez, who stands at a towering 6 feet, 5 inches tall, grew up playing sports — eventually starring in basketball and soccer at Franklin High School in Elk Grove.
He went on to play collegiate soccer for Sacramento State.
It was during Mez’s time on campus that his friend Nick Taylor, a rapper who went by Kid Swagg at the time, invited him to a studio session for the first time.
Mez witnessed Sacramento producer Big Hollis make a beat from scratch while Taylor wrote lyrics down on his phone and began to recite them.
“We were just in the vibe,” Mez recalled. “This is my first time seeing how music is like being created, from a rap standpoint and I’m just blown away, bro. … That whole process of creating music was just so beautiful to me. That’s when I knew I was gonna get into it.”
Before Mez embarked on his music career, however, he focused on his first love, his career in professional sports.
How soccer helped Chimdum Mez transition to new career
Mez was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the fourth round of the 2015 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, 66th overall. However, his soccer career didn’t necessarily go the way he expected.
He was cut by the Earthquakes and then landed a roster spot in the National Premier Soccer League, playing for the Kitsap Pumas soccer team in Bremerton, Washington.
Mez said he barely saw playing time with the Pumas, which was a shot to his confidence.
With practice schedules for the Pumas ending as early as 10 a.m., Mez had most of the day to pursue other passions.
“I was just watching TV shows with my teammates,” Mez said. “I was like, ‘Bro, I gotta use my time better.’ So I just got on YouTube, and just started doing research.”
Mez said he “just started falling in love” with the creative process of making beats.
He left the Pumas to play for the Sacramento Gold soccer team, but he wasn’t happy in that situation either. “This ain’t what I signed up for,” he told himself.
After moving back to Sacramento, Mez went straight to Guitar Center to buy a keyboard so he could start making beats.
Mez’s former college roommates questioned his decision to pursue music while still being a professional athlete, but he didn’t mind their opinions.
As he “went down a rabbit hole” of learning how to make beats, Mez said, he soon realized that he needed a lot more equipment.
“Learning music production is really learning a new language,” Mez explained, “just like learning Spanish, French or whatever. I didn’t even realize how technical music production was.”
Mez said that he thought “as soon as I get into this, I’m about to start getting $100,000 a beat, like Metro Boomin.’”
“I didn’t even know how to turn the machine on, bro. I didn’t know how to turn on my drum machine. I didn’t know I needed all these softwares,” Mez said. “I’m going back and forth to Guitar Center to get cords that I didn’t know I needed for speakers. So it’s just a gradual process of figuring out what you need.”
Once he learned to mix and blend musical sounds, Mez took the next step — testing the waters and seeing if people liked his music He was nervous at first.
“People didn’t know I was making beats yet. They just knew me as a professional soccer player,” Mez said. “I just put out my first beat after showing a few of the homies that I’m close with.”
He consistently asked listeners in a sweat whether they thought the sound was “good enough.”
The responses he received were positive, he said, with friends enthusing, “This is tight. I didn’t even know you did this.”
Those responses were the encouragement Mez needed.
He teased his first beat just after his birthday in November 2017 and officially launched #KeepYaChimUp Fridays the following week, on Dec. 1, 2017, according to his Instagram.
How is Chimchilla influenced by roots, sports?
Mez, who is of Nigerian descent, credits his parents for being the constant reminder he needed to help carve his journey.
“They came from Nigeria. (Stuff) was not easy for them growing up,” he said. “So it’s almost like just doing them a disservice if I don’t take all the resources that I have to be the best person that I can be.”
Mez said being an athlete kept him on the right path, allowing him to develop good traits and successful qualities.
“I always just give a big thanks to sports,” Mez said. “Sports kept me out of trouble, because it’s so easy to get in trouble. Just as a young Black kid, it’s so easy to go the wrong way.”
Mez said sports provided him with “discipline, and it showed me how to work for something, how to practice good habits, seeking out mentors and doing everything that you can do to get the best possible outcome.”
With that attitude, he added, “There’s no way you can lose.”
Why did producer move to LA? ‘Go to where the action is’
Whether in sports or music, Mez has shown a willingness to grow through hard work, consistency and making things happen.
When soccer wasn’t working out for him in the United States, Mez decided to go to a place where the sport was “treated like a religion.”
His friend Ramon Martin Del Campo played for Deportivo Saprissa, one of the top clubs in Costa Rica’s Premier Division, and got Mez in contact with a sports agent.
Mez left the Gold and landed a spot playing for three different 2nd Division soccer clubs in Costa Rica, Escazuceña, Curridibat and Futbol Consultants, before signing in the Premier League with AD Santos.
Mez kept the same mentality when electing to move from Sacramento to Los Angeles in September 2022.
“As a music producer, as somebody in the entertainment business, this is where everybody’s at,” Mez said of Los Angeles. “I’m not saying you can’t do that in Sacramento, but you want to go to where the action is, bro. And the action is here (in L.A.) when it comes to music production, acting, all of that.”
Since moving, Mez said he’s had opportunities to establish relationships with many “industry heavyweights.”
In his first week in Los Angeles, rapper C Plus, who is also from Sacramento, sent Mez’s beat to Bay Area artist representative Willie Joe, who helps runs an Atlanta-based record label, Generation Now. Mez then received an invite for a studio session.
As Chimchilla, Mez has worked with artists including Seddy Hendrinx, Dej Loaf and Kalan.FrFr, as well as Grammy Award-winning producers such as Brian Bates and Darius and Dominique Logan, a duo better known as Blaq Tuxedo, who are also from Sacramento.
He’s also met legendary producers such as DJ Drama and Don Cannon and rapper J Stone.
“Everything was super organic,” Mez said. “I’ve never been like an opportunist-type of person. These are people I actually consider friends.”
Music producer releases new album
A few months ago, Mez had no idea that he would make his album “Sumthin For The Winter.”
Mez was at home working on some new “vibes” when he heard Summer Walker’s song “Heart of a Woman,” he said.
“I love the production on that record. I love the way that it feels,” Mez said.
That inspired an idea “to create a project that just feels smooth,” he said, specifically a beat tape.
“I feel like a lot of producers are strictly only chasing placements,” Mez said. “This is a good way to show producers that we can do more than that and really build our own situation and essentially be an artist without having to rap.”
He wants to “be on the forefront of that” because he feels producers no longer produce beat tapes like they used to.
Now he prepares to release his album “Sumthin for the Winter” on Even, a site that said it empowers artists to sell music directly and connect with fans globally.
Mez said those who purchase the album on Even will receive a voucher for exclusive merchandise from his website at keepyachimup.com.
He wants to be a trendsetter for producers, drawing inspiration from late rapper Nipsey Hussle’s Marathon Mondays and his Proud 2 Pay campaign and Vallejo rapper LaRussell and his “pay what you want” model.
“Regardless of where they started, they stuck with it,” Mez said. “They stayed consistent. And they just continue to build compound interest. And now every single one of them are household names out of here. … That’s super inspirational to me.”
How to get tickets for Sacramento listening party
Tickets for Friday’s listening party at Tiger Restaurant & Lounge, 722 K St. in downtown Sacramento, and after-party with Kalan.FrFr can be purchased here and cost up to $40 for VIP access.
Entry is free before 10 p.m. with a RSVP.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 1:23 PM.
CORRECTION: The headline of a previous version of this story misspelled Chimdum Mez’s professional name, Chimchilla, as Chimcilla. The error has been corrected.
