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Pimp C

Even in its early years, hip-hop as a genre more often talked about the glitz and glamor of a certain kind of lifestyle. That was, until Pimp C arrived and rapped about a much more realistic picture of life, from the view of the small towns and the lower classes. Many of the MCs and hip-hop artists from his region continue to cite his straightforward lyrics and no-nonsense descriptions, long after his departure from the music industry.Born Chad Lamont Butler in 1973, he lived and grew up in the largely African-American town of Port Arthur, Texas. He was first introduced to hip-hop when a friend gave him a Run DMC album in while vacationing at his grandmother's in Los Angeles in 1983. Before that, Butler said that he had absolutely no previous experience with the genre.

His first foray into what would one day become his career was in high school in the late 1980's, with a hip-hop duo called Mission Impossible. At about the same time, another young hip-hop artist from across town named Bernard Freeman – more commonly known as Bun B – was starting his own little hip-hop duo. In a town with less than 60,000 souls, the two met and joined forces to form 4 Black Ministers.

The other two members, however, didn't seem as serious about music as Freeman and Butler were. In 1987, the two broke off and formed Underground Kingz, which would be immortalized as UGK.Before UGK broke into the music industry, the West Coast-focused hip-hop and Country-loving South were two very incompatible paradigms. The early success of the Pimp C - Bun B pairing, however, foreshadowed the decline of that trend.

A year after UGK was formed, they came out with The Southern Way under local label Big Tyme Records. Track 7 of the EP cassette was Tell Me Something Good, which gave UGK their first dose of exposure by dominating a local radio contest for home-brewed tunes. Three years later, the pair had inked a five-record contract with Jive Records. UGK debuted on the mainstream later that year with Too Hard to Swallow.

From there, the duo went from strength to strength. Too Hard to Swallow was followed by Super Tight in 1994, and then Ridin' Dirty just two years later. The latter two albums also made it to the Billboard charts, with Ridin' Dirty peaking at #15. Even the songs that were cut from Too Hard to Swallow for overly explicit content was released under Big Tyme Records and was received well by the hip-hop circuit.In 2002, the year after UGK released Dirty Money, Pimp C was forced to take a break from the hip-hop scene because he was sentenced to eight years in the Terrell Prison Unit in Rosharon, Texas. Between the start of his sentence and his release in 2005, it had become common for the audience and other artists to chant or mention “Free the pimp” wherever Bun B was performing.

Because Bun B was already working on a solo career during Butler's incarceration, Pimp C also came out with his own solo album, Sweet James Jones Stories. The album was released in 2005, some time before the artist himself was and placed on parole until December 2009.

For fans of UGK, December 4, 2007 was a dark day. Pimp C was found dead lying on his bed at the West Hollywood, California Mondrian Hotel. Three months later, the coroner's office of LA found that Butler had died from overdosing on Codeine syrup, which had a lethal combination with his preexisting sleep apnea.

Despite the premature and accidental death of Pimp C, he was able to make a profound contribution to hip-hop, especially for MCs from the south. Even after his death, several works featuring him still surfaced, such as his posthumous UGK 4 Life in 2009.

Did you know that...

• ...Pimp C was originally into classical music? He took up that genre in high school and even made it to Division I in a choir competition as a tenor.
• ...he was supposed to make it to the Grammy Awards? Two days after his death, news came that UGK was nominated in the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group category.
• ...UGK even called out Oprah in their lyrics. Both Pimp C and Bun B were known for their no-nonsense lyrics and for not mincing their words.