While appearing on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Shop series, Outkast’s Andre 3K reflected on the late Texas rapper being “really mad” at him when he submitted his verse for the 2007 hit.
“Rest in peace Pimp [C], but I got a [funny] story about that,” André said when co-host Paul Rivera asked him about his verse on the song. “Pimp was so mad at me because they sent the beat and I wrote my verse, put my words down and I took the beat out for me to rap.”
“When I sent it back to them, Pimp was like, ‘Fuck this muthafucka, man! This n-gga done goddamn took my beat out! Who the fuck he think he is?!’ So he was really mad at the choice that I had made to take the beat [out].I don’t know if it was Bun or somebody, they were like, ‘Nah, but you don’t understand, when that beat drop, though, it sets it off.’ So it’s almost like a set-up. So it worked, and once he got that, he was like, ‘Okay, okay.’ But he was so mad at me.”
Veteran A&R Jeff Sledge previously told this story on an episode of ItsTheReal’s A Waste of Time podcast in 2016.
“When André sent his piece back and had no drums, [Pimp C] was pissed off,” he explained. “He was like ‘Fuck André, man! How the fuck is he gonna send my shit back and take my drums out? Fuck that.’ He was going off about André taking the drums out. I was like, ‘Chad, hold up fam. Let’s rock it like that because when André doing a capella and then when the beat drops, that’s when your verse drops. And then your verse is gonna lift the record up because now the beat is rocking and your verse is kicking.’
Andre 3000 has too many classic verses to count. That being said, his turn on “Int’l Players Anthem” might be one of his most celebrated. It’s quotable, eccentric, and it all plays out before the drums to the main instrumental kick in. It distinguishes Andre’s verse from the other rappers on the song, aka Big Boi and UGK. As beloved as the verse and the song is today, though, Pimp C was not happy when he first heard it. The things that make it unique are the very things that rubbed the UGK rapper the wrong way.
Andre 3000 shared this anecdote during his recent appearance on The Shop. He recounted the making of the song, and his unorthodox choice to remove the drums from his verse. He sent the verse back with just the sample, and Pimp C was livid. “Pimp was so mad at me,” Andre 3000 recalled. “Because they sent the beat and I wrote my verse, put my words down and I took the beat out for me to rap.” Pimp C wasn’t disappointed with the bars, but he felt like the song had been changed without his permission. “Pimp was like, ‘Fuck this muthaf*cka, man! This n**ga done goddamn took my beat out,” Andre said. “Who the f*ck he think he is?!’ He was really mad at the choice that I had made to take the beat [out].”
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. Andre 3000 told The Shop hosts that others made the case for keeping the verse the way it is. “I don’t know if it was Bun [B] or somebody,” the rapper called. “They were like, ‘Nah, but you don’t understand, when that beat drop, though, it sets it off.’ So it’s almost like a set-up. So it worked, and once he got that, he was like, ‘Okay, okay.’” The gamble paid off. “Int’l Players Anthem” peaked at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was UGK’s first and only entry on the charts, and remains their most successful single.
While The Shop episode marks the first time Andre 3000 has shared the Pimp C story, a similar anecdote was shared by A&R Jeff Sledge during a 2016 appearance on the A Waste of Time podcast. The change in Sledge’s version was that it was him, not Bun B, who urged Pimp C to keep Andre’s verse without the beat. “Let’s rock it like that,” the A&R recalls saying. “Because when Andre doing acapella and then when the beat drops, that’s when your verse drops. And then your verse is gonna lift the record up because now the beat is rocking and your verse is kicking.” Whoever made the call, we’re thankful.
Behind every great artist lies a line of influences, shaping their journey and contributing to their unique voice. For Megan Thee Stallion, her biggest influence is arguably the iconic Pimp C. While Megan stands at the forefront of a sonic revolution in today’s mainstream rap scene, she recognizes those who came before her. Throughout her career, the rapper has cited Pimp C as her inspiration on multiple occasions.
Pimp C, and by extension, UGK, is a cornerstone of Texas’s rap legacy. Although the rapper is no longer with us, his wife is an avid supporter of Megan Thee Stallion. Chinara Butler, Pimp C’s wife, has notably sided with Megan throughout her beef with Nicki Minaj. Her support for Megan mirrors Megan’s support and respect for Pimp C.
It’s a given if Megan Thee Stallion is asked about her influences, she will certainly mention Pimp C. She has been doing so since the beginning of her career, and she’ll probably never stop. The “Hiss” rapper is always full of praise for the late icon. In an interview on Hot 107.9 in 2019, she explained why her alter ego is named Tina Snow, similar to Pimp C’s Tony Snow alias. “I go by Tina Snow because Pimp C is one of my favorite rappers. So, like, in my music, I want to make people feel how Pimp C make me feel,” she said.
Broadcast Houston Interview
Soon after she got signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment in 2018, Megan began appearing in multiple interviews. One such interview was with Broadcast Houston in September 2018. During the interview, Megan Thee Stallion admitted to listening to Pimp C while growing up. She also referred to the late MC as her “number one favorite rapper.” Furthermore, explaining her Tina Snow alias, she said, “Pimp C make me feel confident, you know, real cocky, like, just real swagged out. So like, I want people to feel like that when they listen to me.”
Another interview from 2018, Megan’s sit-down with Moriah Marie was uploaded to YouTube on July 19, 2018. The interview was shot in the free moments while Megan prepared for a photo shoot. Like many people back then, Moriah Marie wondered who Tina Snow was, and she proceeded to ask the rapper about her famous alter ego. “Tony Snow was one of Pimp C’s many aliases. Pimp C is my favorite rapper, he just make me feel so cool and so laidback… I get into my act when I’m listening to Pimp C, so I turned myself into Tina Snow, like his opposite,” she said.
XXL Interview
During an April 2019 interview with XXL, one of the questions the “Savage” rapper was asked was who she grew up listening to. Without hesitation, Megan Thee Stallion immediately cited Pimp C. “A lot of UGK,” she said, mentioning Pimp C’s former Hip Hop group with Bun B. “Pimp C is my favorite rapper,” she continued, making sure it was clear just how much of a fan she was. Furthermore, while talking about her writing process, Megan Thee Stallion said she regularly asks herself “would this be Pimp C approved?”
Rolling Stone Interview
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2020, Megan was asked about the first time she listened to UGK. According to the rapper, UGK had been playing since she was a baby. However, her earliest memory of listening to the Hip Hop duo was when she was in second grade. “Listening to Pimp C and understanding what he was saying, I was like ‘wow, like, this would sound real cool if a girl was saying it,’” she told Rolling Stone. “From there, I started thinking, ‘I’mma rap like this when I get older,’ and I do,” she concluded.
Fans of Megan Thee Stallion are no doubt aware of the fact that the prolific femcee has a number of nicknames and alter egos. One of her most popular alternative titles is Tina Snow, a name which she shares with her 10-track 2018 EP. Meg’s favorite rapper of all time, Pimp C, is the origin of the nickname, which many fans may not know. In fact, her admiration for the “Int’l Players Anthem” rapper significantly influences much of the Houston native’s sound and style, highlighting Pimp C’s impact on the genre today. Here’s a look into how exactly Megan coined the name Tina Snow, and what the esoteric title means to her brand.
HOUSTON – APRIL 3: Rapper Pimp-C of the rap group UGK during the video shoot for the lead off street anthem Pourin Up from Pimp-C’s highly anticipated solo album Pimpalation on April 3, 2006 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bill Olive/Getty Images)
Before his untimely death in 2007, Pimp C utilized a number of monikers in his music, just like Megan Thee Stallion. His inventive use of the title Tony Snow ultimately inspired Meg to gender-swap the nickname to Tina Snow for her own use. Throughout Pimp C’s discography, he commonly referred to himself as Tony Snow, often using the nickname as an alter ego to refer to the habit of selling cocaine, or “snow.” The motif of selling cocaine also doubles as a metaphor for pushing “dope” music to the masses.
The first name Tony was likely chosen due to a number of popular crime figures throughout both true history and fiction, including Tony Montana and Tony Soprano. As Tony Snow, Pimp C would approach the mic with a cool, laid-back style which inspired Megan from a young age. Once the “Hiss” rapper began pursuing music as a career path, she knew she needed to pay homage to her favorite performer, taking on her own iteration of the Tony Snow name.
Megan Gender-Flipped The Nickname To Inspire Other Women
During interviews, Megan Thee Stallion has explained that she picked up the alter ego of Tina Snow both to pay homage to Pimp C and also to inspire other femcees to rap with the cool confident swag often reserved for upper-echelon rappers. Being that she hails from Houston, the same hometown as the legendary UGK rapper, Megan felt that it was her place to carry the torch left behind by Pimp C and inspire a new generation of forward-thinking hip-hop listeners.
When rapping under the title Tina Snow, Megan Thee Stallion delivers more aggressive and street-wise lyrics in a smooth, laid-back gangster flow. While the character of “Megan” may prioritize higher academic learning and getting good grades, Tina Snow is solely focused on hustling and getting money. Meg even appeared as the character Tina Snow in a 2022 episode of the Starz series P-Valley.
Megan Has Several Other Nicknames And Alter Egos As Well
In addition to her Tina Snow moniker, Megan Thee Stallion has also formed several other nicknames throughout her years behind the mic. Some of her other nicknames are self-explanatory, such as Hot Girl Meg, while others also have deep-rooted backstories like the Tina Snow title. Other common nicknames utilized by the prolific female rapper include Suga, Htown Hottie, and simply Megan.
The Tina Snow name clearly holds a special place in Meg’s heart, however, as she uses the title for her social media handles. Ironically, many modern hip-hop heads probably know the Tina Snow title better than they know Pimp C’s discography, proving that Megan has propelled the title and sound of Houston to new heights with her massive catalog of hit tracks.
Everyone in the rap world is talking about Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. A beef that was first set up on Pink Friday 2 last month absolutely erupted over the weekend. That came on the back of Megan Thee Stallion’s new single “HISS.” While the song is about a lot more than just Nicki and she doesn’t mention Nicki by name, for many fans their biggest takeaway was a newly sparked beef between the female MCs.
Nicki Minaj’s response to the song was pretty robust. It began with days of tweeting nearly nonstop with some posts spanning hundreds of words of occasionally quite incoherent rambling. That eventually turned into a response song called “Big Foot” which dropped yesterday. The track has received pretty negative reactions online for a variety of reasons. Fans have called her disses weak with lyrics borrowed directly from some of her tweets. They’ve also critiqued some of her accusations as being complete falsehoods. Even some fellow celebs and rappers have gotten in on the backlash. Check out what Pimp C’s wife had to say about the song below.
In an Instagram comment, Pimp C’s wife Chinara Butler gave her take on the song. “#nickiminaj diss song is A$$ it’s going to go double wood! Get some rest and #TryAgain.” Fans in the comments mostly shared her sentiments. “I’ve never seen a unanimous agreement that a song was trash like this ever in hip hop” one of the top comments on a recap of the situation reads.
Despite the near-universal dislike of the song, it is still getting people’s attention. The track stood at #2 on the Apple Music charts earlier today behind only Megan’s original diss track “HISS.” Nicki has also claimed that she had four more songs ready to potentially release soon. What do you think of Pimp C’s wife taking shots at Nicki Minaj’s new diss track? Do you agree with her take on “Big Foot?” Let us know in the comment section below.
During a recent episode of The Art Of Dialogue, record executive Greg Taylor sat joined the show to discuss a variety of rap-related subjects. During one of the segments, he told a story about an awkward encounter that happened over the phone. The story begins shortly after the deal for Jay-Z and UGK to collaborate on “Big Pimpin” was cut. Then during a call that was unfortunately on speaker phone, he delivered the news to Pimp C and problems started to emerge.
“I called Pimp on the phone like, ‘Yo Pimp’ … I got a million-dollar check for you and all we wanted was a $100,000. He was like, ‘Who’s that with?’ I said, Roc-A-Fella. He was like, ‘Ain’t that over there with JAY-Z.’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘Man, tell him to take that check and give it to 2Pac momma. He gonna be stealing all my sh*t,” Taylor explains. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough at turning speakerphone off to prevent Jay from hearing it. “Yeah, [Jay-Z] heard him. Because I had to jump up and apologize for this n*gga to clean that sh*t up quick. I didn’t realize he was in the room. As soon I seen Hov in the room, I was like, ‘Ahhh.’” Check out the full clip of Taylor telling the story below.
Recently, Dame Dash has been making a big deal out of telling old stories about Jay-Z. It comes as many fans have claimed that Dame has basically been cut off entirely from Jay and company and he’s had to dodge many accusations of using Jay’s name to get headlines. Most recently he told the story of how the legendary Roc-A-Fella rapper’s beef with DMX began. He faced accusations from fans online for over-exaggerating the role he personally played in the events.
Last month, Jay-Z shared his Tidal playlist highlighting some of his favorite songs of the year. Hip-hop favorites like Nas, Drake, Travis Scott, PLayboi Carti, lil Yachty, Westside Gunn and more also popped up on his list. What do you think of Jay-Z overhearing Pimp C dissing him before the two were scheduled to collaborate? Let us know in the comment section below.
On this date in 2007, Chad Butler aka Pimp C of Houston’s legendary Underground Kingz along with Bun B, lost his life from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He was only 33 years old. Even though his physical presence is gone and sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to him of their own music.
Born Chad Lamont Butler on December 29, 1973, in Port Arthur, Texas, Pimp C emerged into the Hip Hop scene with his partner Bun B to make the Underground Kingz (UGK) one of the greatest rap groups to come out of the Dirty South and undoubtedly the best rap duo from Texas.
In his illustrious three-decade-long career, the Pimp released nine UGK albums, six full-length solo albums, and even a posthumous book Sweet Jones: Pimp C’s Trill Life Story by Ozone Magazine owner Julia Beverly, which dropped last summer.
On this date in 1992, Bun B and Pimp C put out their first studio release Too Hard To Swallow and began their extremely successful career as Underground Kingz.
With UGK (short for Underground Kingz) being one of the first rap groups to come out of Texas to be regarded nationally, it’s easy to see how important it is to the South. At this time in the early 90s, there wasn’t much coming from anywhere other than New York or California. The only southern rappers that had hits were fellow Texas natives Geto Boys and Miami-based rappers 2 Live Crew. When this album dropped, it opened up a door for a whole new wave of southern rap to emerge.
Unlike the funkier, sample-heavy beats that UGK became known for rapping over later in their career, this album is true to its name as far as its production. The beats are a lot more aggressive and so is the lyricism. Nevertheless, this album is full of hits that are considered classics of the group’s catalog. These three tracks are “Something Good”, “Use Me Up” which hails a Bill Withers sample, and “Pocket Full of Stones”, which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 hood classic, Menace II Society.
The album was recorded over a year period from 1991 to 1992 and released on November 9th, 1992 under Jive Records, the early 90s powerhouse label hosting acts such as E-40, A Tribe Called Quest, R.Kelly, and the late Aaliyah. The album has so far sold 369,511 copies and peaked at 37th on the Billboard US R&B Charts. After this album, UGK went on to put out five albums until the untimely passing of member Pimp C in 2007.
Last week it was reported that Pimp C had allegedly threatened Hurricane Chris after being left off the remix of “A Bay Bay”. “This how the remix come about,” Chris told My Expert Opinion, “A million people send verses in. Everybody in the game. But my relationships with Birdman, Lil Wayne, um Boosie — people that I respect on the West Coast were E40. The people I respected over here [East Coast] were Jadakiss.”
“So, I had a verse from everybody. From everybody you could think of in the world. But the West Coast, I like people like the Game. So, I was only able to pick a few people,” he added. “I had Baby, The Game, E40, Jadakiss, Boosie, Angelo from my city — on the remix. But, it really was the entire industry that sent me a verse. If I were to play you all the verses right now it would be everybody in the rap game from Jamaicans to Spanish people to Pitbull to Beanie Man.” However, Pimp C’s widow is now refuting the claim that Pimp C threatened murder over the snub.
In a post on Instagram, Pimp C’s widow Chinara Butler addressed the claims made by the media. “it’s almost accurate but not so! Now he was pissed and the verse is but he just wanted to know who he was about kill on the song ! .” Butler also spoke on the matter in a video. “What had happened was, the A&R, Chris, whoever emailed the song, Chad got the song, or I get the song,” Butler began. “I burn it on a CD, give it to him, he go to the studio, I think it’s probably within two days, he drop his vocals, send it back to them, and probably within two days later, the A&R calls him and says ‘Yeah, you [not] making the remix because you took too long to drop the vocals, which we knew wasn’t true.”
“So that’s when he lost his shit and he was like, ‘I’m going to kill everybody on the remix,’” she continued, “and he was gone do a remix of ‘Ay Bay Bay’ and he was gone call it ‘Ay K K’ which I thought was hilarious. But um, he wasn’t gone kill ya’ll in real life. He probably just wanted to see who ya’ll was. That’s it, you know, wanted to see who he was about to diss.” So there it is – no actual death threats, just a little bit of venting about being left off a remix.
After turning up the heat last month with his new mixtape, Bad Azz Yella Boy, Asylum’s Yella Beezy cranks up the heat as he pays homage to the legendary Texas rapper Pimp C with his new single “Pimp C” featuring EST Gee, which is accompanied with a music video featuring a guest appearances with Pimp C’s UGK rap partner, Bun B. Baccend Beezy continues his infectious return with another impressive southern-fried rap. He spits:
“That lil’ h** messy, you can’t tell her nothin’, on God she gon’ spread the word, lot of grammies like I’m tryna win awards, waitin’ on the first and third, got a lotta bows and I ain’t talkin’ ’bout clothes, but he tryna get a shirt, young n**ga bustin’ pack after pack, I’m tryna get a vert, heard them n**gas saying that they still tryna get me, well I’m tryna get ’em murked, I don’t take shit lightly when they talkin’, ’cause I’m ’bout to get ’em first…”
Bun B appears on the visual to co-sign the fellow Texan and the use of Pimp C likeness. Linking with EST Gee was also a great choice as he has been on a trailblazing path to the top in today’s hip hop. This year alone, EST Gee has released several collaborative projects, a deluxe version of his new album, and a string of a-list collaborations.
Yella’s Bad Azz Yella Boy features newly-signed QC’s Icewear Vezzo. The 16 track project includes buzzworthy singles “DFWM” and “Not Me.” Beezy signed with Asylum earlier this year following his departure from L.A. Reid’s Hitco Records.
Beezy is currently preparing his as-yet-titled forthcoming album, expected top of 2023.
Watch “Pimp C” above and stream Bad Azz Yella Boy below.
