Published: Monday - December 10, 2007
Words by Nicole Perrino
Pimp C Photo: Rap-A-Lot
For the four years Pimp C was locked up, "Free Pimp C" t-shirts circulated throughout the hip-hop community. Now Pimp C is finally free, not from jail -- because he was released a minute ago -- but free from the ugly world we live in. At age 33, Pimp C is now resting in heaven with other hip-hop greats. And in the tradition of hip-hop, we have chosen to celebrate his life and accomplishments rather than mourn his death.
Back in 2003, me and my boy Dre had a notebook that we jotted down thoughts and rhymes in. In it I quoted myself saying that I predicted New York would step aside for a minute and let the West Coast and Down South take over musically. Now it's not that any one area ever stops making music, but right after I said that, we really did experience a movement in music. New Yorkers were in the club dancing to hyphy, a word that was never used before on the East Coast (yet old news in Cali), we were suddenly seeing videos on BET of country rappers, with mouths filled with gold, rapping next to a Cadillacs. Finally New York had stepped aside and let other places influence us. Yea, the South was always there in the background, but finally the South got their chance, thanks to rappers like Pimp C.
Pimp C, one half of UGK, which also consists of Bun B, were from the South, Texas to be exact, but had no bias towards the rappers they worked with. In 2000, before Pimp C served four years out of an eight year sentence, UGK made huge cameo on Jay-Z's hit single "Big Pimpin'" and that same year, they also worked with Three 6 Mafia. But like all pimps, Pimp C's history goes way back. UGK actually began around 1988, giving Texas something to talk about. And just look at how many years it took the rest of the country to get put on to his talent.
Being known as someone who always spoke his mind, Pimp C didn't evade the curse of catchin' beef. None of it bothered him though, after all, how could a pimp be bothered by haters? "KEEP THROWIN' SALT ON ME! THATZ SEASONING 2 A STEAK!" (a quote from Pimp C's MySpace page Myspace.com/PimpCOfUGK). But most respected him for the way he put us on to his way of thinking, and he received more respect than hate. Pimp C had always stressed that rappers needed to unify, and I'm sure he passed feeling proud of his accomplishments.
It seems too often that people pass when they are at their prime. We just saw the success of UGK's hit single, "International Players Anthem (I choose you)" featuring Outkast, this year, and to put icing on the cake, it was recently announced that it is nominated for a Grammy. Kanye even gave up his award at the BET Hip Hop awards, admitting he felt UGK deserved to win for Top Hip Hop Video rather than his video for "Stronger."
He was in Los Angeles last week, where he performed alongside Too Short at the House Of Blues, but passed the very next day. So why now? Of course I don't have the answer. They say what goes up must come down, so maybe it's better he passed when he was up. But, the beautiful thing about music is that it gives us a way to never forget a person. So Pimp C is finally free, but his music and his impact on the hip-hop music industry has chosen to stay.
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