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December 4 is a landmark day for a plethora of reasons. It’s the day Fred Hampton was murdered. It’s the day some guy named Shawn Carter from Brooklyn was born. It’s the day my fraternity was founded. As of today, it’s the day the Cash Money Records empire officially began to fall. Maybe.
December 4 also stands as the day one Hip-Hop’s most colorful personalities passed away. Believe it or not, Chad “Pimp C” Butler was only 34 at the time of death in 2007. The man affectionately known as Sweet James Jones left behind volumes of music, quotes, mannerisms and interviews, but also an irreplaceable space the genre has failed to fill in the seven years since.
Part two of Nah Right’s fascinating conversation with Wendy Day shed more light on previously untold stories of Bun B’s brother-in-rhyme.
You worked with UGK?
I did yes. I was more of a friend than anything. I was Pimp C’s friend and there was a point in time where Chad wanted to start a label called Underground Kingz Records. He came to me to help set it up and help get distribution for the label. The interesting thing was that Gipp from Goodie Mobb was going to be the person to run the label, which is kind of unique. When I suggest businessmen to run labels he’s probably not in your top ten, but he’s an amazing human being and I spent a lot of time with Pimp C helping to set up that label. It never came into fruition only because he couldn’t get Jive to financially sponsor it.
Pimp C seemed like such a unique character and he’s one of my personal favourites. It’s good to see him getting recognition as of late.
I agree, he was very interesting. He was very funny without meaning to be. Not in a comedian sort of way, but in a very human sort of way, he really saw the comedy of life.
Towards the end, he developed a bit of a drug problem and that was very difficult for me. Only because we were close enough that I would get calls at four or five o’clock in the morning, listening to him rant and rave. He would get frustrated of course. We all get frustrated in life, but most of it was drug induced. We would have meetings and he would stand me up. Sadly right before he passed away, I got so frustrated with him that I cut him off. So I hadn’t spoken to him in three months and when he passed away, you realize “oh shit I can never take that back.” But the cool thing about Chad is, he knew I loved him. He knew how I felt about him. I’m not shy. I tell people what I think, whether it’s good or bad so I did get the opportunity to tell him how I felt about him. He had the opportunity to tell me, he wasn’t somebody that was very open with his emotions. We were on a phone call with somebody that he was introducing me to and he told that person how he felt about me with me on the phone and I was surprised. I was like “wow, I didn’t even know he liked me.” It was kind of surprising to hear him talk about my attributes and that he cared about me as a friend.
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Do you have any favorite stories from working with Pimp C?
Probably the one that stands out the most in my mind is when he came to New York to visit me. When we first started putting the label together, he and Gipp came to town and I was bringing them to Brooklyn, to my house. Like I did with all rappers that came to visit me, I made them take the subway. I didn’t rent a car. I didn’t have a car service or a taxi. I made them take a subway with the people. I didn’t expect anybody to recognize Pimp C because UGK were really a Southern group that appealed to the South. But Goodie Mob was famous everywhere so I expected somebody to recognize Gipp. So we’re on this subway going from New York to Brooklyn and people were kind of looking at us trying to figure out who they were. Then all of a sudden some guy comes up to us when we’re in Brooklyn coming out of the train station and says “Aren’t you Pimp C?” And I was shocked because a fan recognized Pimp C before they recognized Gipp. It just really surprised me you know. This was in 1998 so the internet was in play, but not like is today. So it was still very surprising for somebody to recognize a Southern artist.
He [Pimp] wanted to see Beat Street, which was a store that sold all of the underground New York mixtapes. It was really cool, as we were walking in, we heard this guy say “Chad! Chad! Chad!” and I looked over and it was Dana Dane from back in the day. He recognized Pimp C and I was like “What! Does nobody know who Gipp is!?” It just really shocked me, that UGK would get recognized before Goodie Mobb.
The story about Gipp and New York was brilliant and a testament to how far UGK’s music extended beyond Texas’ state lines as far back as the late ’90s. But hearing Wendy speak of The Pimp’s final days was remarkably tough. That point in life is crystal clear, almost as if it were yesterday. Chad’s passing was the first Hip-Hop death in my adulthood, one where the magnitude of the situation made sense the moment the news broke. The fact it happened during my senior year in college only made the situation that much more of a tougher pill to swallow.
Hell, only weeks before, my chapter used “International Players Anthem” as the trailer for our Miss Black and Gold 2007 Pageant. Pimp’s verse wasn’t featured, but mainly because the clip could only be but so long and no one bothered to look for the edited version.
In all seriousness, though, riding to UGK was a Hip-Hop religious experience.
“UGK Alumni” wasn’t a fad. It was a badge of honor.
Bun gave knowledge on how to operate in the world while Pimp dropped the game. They were both two uncles many of us never had the pleasure to meet, but the music made the bond deeper than rap long before Ross came up with the title. Here was a young Tins, engaging in everything one could expect a college senior to, oftentimes with Pimp and Bun as the soundtrack. And there was Pimp, slowly but surely, taking his own life while unaware his final days dropped from triple digits, to double digits and suddenly down to hours.
“You heard about Pimp? Found him dead in his hotel.”
Receiving the phone call with the quoted message will never be erased from the memory bank. Nor will the cypher and hours-on-end reflection of UGK’s music soon after. Looking back, I probably took the moment harder than any fan should have. Classes weren’t difficult. The semester was already pretty much in the bag anyway. The only thing left to do was pay homage to Pimp and UGK by “putting a few in the air” while he and Bun’s lyrics slightly served as unofficial therapy.
UGK was never going to be the same again, regardless of the amount of unreleased material. Nothing would top Pimp and Bun together in the flesh. Rap wasn’t either. It was a watershed moment. And everyone knew it, too.
Hearing Wendy reflect on Pimp inadvertently prompted a trip back in time when life was simpler and the toughest question any of us had was “so whose turn is it to by the Dutches?” In the seven years since December 4, 2007, there have been highs, lows and Bun B and UGK albums wedged in between. It hasn’t been the same though. It never will be.
Yet, the fact seven calendars have come and gone since the last time Chad Butler stood north of the dirt with us and his voice and name continue to ring bells is proof of a more profound lesson. Do dope s***. Create dope s***. Experience dope s*** so you can talk dope s***. What we’re doing right now has the potential to last forever.
It’s not the key to life, but a person never went wrong living that way either.
Previously: Birdman Was Once Forced To Apologize And Other Wild Rap Industry Stories From Wendy Day
* – Check your boy out. A young light skin brother telling seven different he women loved him. Let this video serve as the basis of Drake’s entire schtick. And, yes, jean shorts had not yet gone out of style in 2007 for those inquiring. Excuse the lyrics and lip-synching being off, too. We were all college kids working on a budget of Ramen Noodles, half eaten Papa Johns and somehow endless Grey Goose bottles.