The King is Dead: Remembering Texas rap legend Pimp C
Source: By Joshua Errett
Posted: 12/06/07 11:06AM
Filed Under: Music
Earlier this year, UGK, the hard-bitten rap duo out of Port Arthur, Tex., gained their first number one album on Billboard's pop chart after a career spanning three decades.
Earlier this week, Pimp C, one-half of that group, was found dead in a hotel room in West Hollywood, Calif. He was 33 years old.
The rapper and producer, whose real name was Chad Butler, was confirmed dead by authorities on Dec. 4. Hotel staff discovered him in his room, lying fully-clothed on the bed. The cause of death, at present time, has been described only as "natural causes" by his manager.
Known for his smooth flow and easily recognizable production work, Pimp C pioneered a Southern rap style that now dominates the genre. With his outlandish fur coats, boisterous behaviour and occasional brushes with the law, he maintained a larger-than-life persona right up until his death.
When he formed UGK with rhyming partner Bun B in the late 1980s, Texas was still an unlikely locale for hip-hop. At the time, New York City was considered the genre's epicenter, and upbeat, jazz-informed New Jack Swing dominated charts. But UGK preferred to rap over Pimp's minimal, slow-as-syrup mix of beats, handclaps, organs, horns and whining Southern guitars—a sound which became the group's trademark.
Their first album, 1992's 'Too Hard To Swallow,' contained "Pocket Full of Stones," a drug-dealing street anthem which was minor hit nationally but became a Southern rap touchstone. Their next success came four years later, with their major label debut 'Ridin' Dirty.' Songs like 'One Day,' 'Pinky Ring,' and 'F--k My Car' were well-liked in hip-hop circles, making the album a rap-classic and giving Pimp his Southern rap bona fides. But due to failed promotional bids and continuous record label fumbling, UGK weren't able to capitalize on 'Ridin' Dirty.'
But as vanguards of the Dirty South aesthetic, Jay-Z, New York City's premiere talent and a national hit-maker, called on UGK to record a Southern party jam called "Big Pimpin'," which introduced them to the pop charts.
Having New York come to Port Arthur, Tex., was, in effect, vindication of UGK's unrepentant Southernness.
This year's 'Underground Kingz'—a sprawling double-album featuring the OutKast-assisted "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)"—was their triumphant return to the mainstream.
But the story of Pimp C is incomplete without mention of his infamous three-year prison bid for violating probation by ignoring the community service sentence received from an earlier aggravated assault charge.
While Pimp was locked up, his friend and partner Bun B started the 'Free Pimp C' campaign, which began as an ad lib at the end of a verse and blossomed into a full-blown rallying cry. After only a short while, the slogan had permeated the entire rap world. In late 2004, while he was incarcerated, the Southern rap that Pimp C invented had improbably become popular. The new generation of Southern rappers began citing UGK's oeuvre as a major - and in some cases only—influence. Pimp C's status had been elevated from vanguard to legend.
When Pimp was released in late 2005, Bun B was standing outside the prison gate, wearing an ear-to-ear smile. The two embraced, and the reunion was photographed by the Southern rap magazine Ozone.
In the days following his death, those photos—now widely circulating rap music blogs—have come to symbolize the rapper's hard-luck career: He spent years in obscurity, crafting the sound that now shapes modern rap music. And when his vision of slow, Southern-cooked rap music finally did become popular, he was in jail. Now, at the peak of his career, Pimp C, the Southern rap innovator and legend, unexpectedly dies.
He never got to retire, reflect, or otherwise bask in the accolades of his success. But like Ian Curtis, John Lennon or anyone else that died while still able to work, his music and influence will live on.
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