Pimp C, 33, one-half of the veteran Houston rap group UGK, was found dead in an upscale hotel on Tuesday, his publicist said.
Pimp C, born Chad Butler, was found dead in Los Angeles’ Mondrian hotel, a longtime music-industry hangout.
Butler and his partner, Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, were pioneers of Southern rap and hit the mainstream with their cameo on Jay-Z’s smash “Big Pimpin’.” Their 1996 CD “Ridin’ Dirty” is considered a rap classic, and their laid-back sound, complete with gangsta tales of creeping through humid streets gripping wood-grain steering wheels, was influential in shaping the Southern rap movement.
The duo’s career was derailed when Butler was jailed for three years in 2002 on gun charges. He released an album while in prison, and this year the group made a comeback with the critically acclaimed album “Underground Kingz,” which included the hit “Int’l Player’s Anthem (I Choose You),” featuring OutKast.
Butler grew up in Port Arthur, Texas. His father was a professional trumpet player, and the rapper studied classical music in high school. He received a Division I rating on a tenor solo at a University Interscholastic League choir competition.
“That’s how I came up listening to everything,” he said in a 2005 interview. “Music don’t have no color or no face. It’s a universal language. I think being exposed to all that kind of stuff influences the way I make records.”
But it was rap music that would become his passion. Together with Freeman, Butler’s friend since junior high, they started UGK, short for Underground Kingz.
The Associated Press
