Gerald Hanks
On December 4, 2007, the Houston hip-hop scene lost one of its most acclaimed voices:
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Chad Butler, the rapper better known as Pimp C, passed away in his sleep in a Los Angeles hotel room at 33 years old.
Pimp C, along with Houston rap legend and Rice University lecturer Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, formed the rap duo UGK – Underground Kings – during their teen years of 1987 in their hometown of Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of Houston.
They later moved down IH-10 to launch their rap careers.
The Pimp 👑 pic.twitter.com/qoH9DRjabt
— DjCandlestick.eth (@candlestickem) December 5, 2017
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Despite never having made as big a splash on the charts as their East Coast and West Coast contemporaries, UGK delivered some of the most influential albums of the 1990s, including “Too Hard to Swallow” in 1992, “Super Tight” in 1994, and “Ridin’ Dirty” in 1996.
The duo’s albums laid the foundation for what would become the signature style of Houston rap: slow beats, laid-back delivery and lyrics about sex, drugs and cars.
UGK disbanded in 2002, when Pimp C went to prison on a weapons charge and failing to meet the terms of his probation.
Released in 2005, he reunited with Bun B to record the album “Underground Kings,” which included their biggest hit, “International Players Anthem (I Choose You).”
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In February 2008, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office released the autopsy report on Pimp C’s death, which concluded Butler died as “a result of taking the cough medication” codeine combined with his sleep apnea, a condition causing blockages in the airways during sleep.
https://twitter.com/TheLaunchMag/status/872252278803222530
RIP to this Houston artist – gone too soon.
