S. Samuel
With today marking the seven-year anniversary since UGK's Pimp C passed away, SOHH reached out to fellow Houston rapper Paul Wall to share a storied memory of his fallen Texan.
Reflecting on his past times alongside Pimp C, Wall recalled getting teased by the late rapper for writing him during a jail stint.
“I remember when we shot the video for ‘I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)’ with T-Pain, Too Short, me and Pimp C, there was a lot of us on the song,” Wall reflected on the 2006 music video. “Me and Pimp C recorded our parts together on the same day right behind each other. So we were just kicking it real hard and I remember us talking about stuff. I remember him telling me, ‘Yo Paul Wall, you was on that square sh*t writing me in jail. Wasn’t nobody else writing me. You were on that square sh*t, man.’ [laughs] I just always loved those memories. We were always laughing and joking. I just always remember that. It’s always funny. I wrote him as a fan but also as an artist trying to show support to him while he was in jail.” (SOHH)
Wall also expressed how much of a leader and motivator Pimp C was to people.
“For me, I grew up listening to UGK,” Wall added. “So that’s a big part and a big influence in my music. So I just wanted to support him in that way. It was real cool shooting a video with him and being able to get to kick it and hang with him. He was an icon for us musically but just in genera, that was something we all loved because of how spoken he was. He wouldn’t let nobody get away with nothing. Even you. If you were his friend, if you were doing something out of line, he was going to call you out on it. And it wasn’t like he would call you out with alterior motives, he’d just call you out because you were out of line with what you’re doing.” (SOHH)
Last year, Young Money’s Drake described the influence of Pimp C in his own music.
“I just feel that I’m a huge Pimp supporter,” explained Drake, who sends the MC an R.I.P. at the end of his verse. “I’m a huge Pimp fan. I feel like I’m extended UGK family. Bun and Pimp are like uncles, dads to me. They’re G’s. [When I’m around them], I feel like I do around my uncles. They’re still the coldest cats in the world, but Bun makes me feel … he’s a legend. His presence, it’s like me calling myself Young Bun B, [when I call myself] Young Sweet Jones…It’s just seeing a bit of them in myself; by no means did I mean to offend. I heard it was somebody upset about me making that reference. I think it was somebody in his family or something. But I never mean any disrespect. I love rap. Young Sweet Jones is just a little nickname. People really started calling me that before I ever said it in a rap song. I used to rep for Houston so hard. They just be like, ‘Man, that’s Young Sweet Jones right there.’ I just put it in a song. And it sounded dope.” (MTV)
Pimp C passed away December 4th 2007 while booked to perform in Los Angeles.
An overdose of cough syrup and a preexisting sleep apnea condition killed Chad Butler, better known as rapper Pimp C, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. His death has been ruled an accident. Butler was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel on Dec. 4. He was 33. He’d been in L.A. for a concert with rapper Too $hort. Though early reports suggested the cough syrup was over-the-counter, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said the Promethazine/Codeine found in his system was from a prescription-based product. (Chron Entertainment)
Check out “I’m ‘N Luv (Wit a Stripper)” remix music video below:
