GrippinGrain

Seems like since getting out on parole Pimp C’s status is reaching new heights by the minute. He’s in the studio dropping new tracks all the time, remixes are popping up everywhere and interviews too. Pimp C and Bun B have for the minute got the Southern Rap community in their hands as well as much of the rap community as a whole. What will they do with it and how are they going to do it is the only question. One thing you can bet on is these two aren’t going to stop making hot music regardless of who tries to stop them from releasing it. Even the Dallas Morning News is getting in on the game and just dropped a little interview with Pimp C in their pages so check it out.

Hard time helps rapper get focused

RAP: Houston’s Pimp C sits down to talk after his parole from prison

By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News

When the Houston rapper Pimp C went to prison in 2002, he was a cult artist. By the time he got out in December, he was a legend.

Even he can hardly believe the metamorphosis. “I left a G., and I came home an O.G., you know what I mean?” says Pimp C. “I came home at Run-DMC status.”

Well, not quite that big, but his star has definitely risen, thanks to help from red-hot Houston rappers such as Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Slim Thug, who spread the gospel of the Pimp while he was in the can.

As one-half of UGK (Underground Kingz), Pimp C never enjoyed the mass fame accorded fellow H-Town gangsta-rap act the Geto Boys.

But UGK’s cameo on Jay-Z’s 2000 hit “Big Pimpin’ ” boosted their profile, as did all those “Free Pimp C” T-shirts fans wore while he was behind bars.

The 32-year-old rapper (real name: Chad Butler) served nearly four years of an eight-year term for pulling out a handgun during an argument with a woman at a shopping mall. Paroled on Dec. 31 from the Terrell Unit prison near Houston, he’s been busy since then plotting UGK’s comeback with his partner, Bun B.

We caught up with the Pimpster in the wee hours of Thursday at Purgatory, the downtown Dallas nightclub where he was hosting a bash featuring Dallas Mavericks players.

After his Shaq-size bodyguard frisked a reporter and found him packing no heat, Pimp C sat down for one of his first post-prison interviews.

Question: After years in prison, how hard is it adjusting to the outside?

Answer: Well, I came out of prison, and Bun B put a stack of money in one hand, my momma handed me a cellphone in the other, and I jumped into a brand-new Cadillac. So it was a little bit easier for me than for someone who comes out and starts from the bottom up.

Question: Your mom was UGK’s road manager. Did she ever disapprove of the wild stuff that happened on tour?

Answer: My momma’s never done drugs, but she’s not a square. Everything I can do in the dark, I can do in the light in front of my momma. She’s got a master’s degree in English and she was a teacher, but when she got into this rap thing, she learned fast. Now, you can’t pull nothing over on her. She don’t do the road no more, but she’s my personal manager, which is a beautiful thing – having a family member that you can trust.

Question: What did you think about the “Free Pimp C” T-shirts?

Answer: It was great knowing I wasn’t forgotten about. But at the same time, a bunch of that stuff was not licensed. They used my likeness without my permission, so we’ve got some lawsuits going on. We’re giving those people the opportunity to settle with us before we come at ‘em with lawyers.

Question: Going to prison certainly didn’t seem to hurt your career – if anything, it’s helped it.

Answer: It perpetuates a myth and it gives you street credibility, like it’s a notch on your belt. But that’s a misconception. Truth be told, when you go to prison, you lose. Your kids lose. Your family loses. You lose time that you can never get back. If going to prison or getting shot’s what you gotta do to be tough, then I don’t want to be tough.

Question: What did you do for four years in jail?

Answer: I wrote about 3,000 songs, some really heartfelt material. I also had three jobs in prison – all of them had their advantages. At first, I was a janitor, and I was able to move around more freely than the average inmates do. Then I worked in the kitchen, where I could eat and cook whenever I wanted. And my last job was working in the library, which was air-conditioned and I was surrounded by radios and books. After a while, all I wanted to be around was books. I tried to turn a negative into a positive. I got my G.E.D. while I was down there. I took a sexually transmitted disease education class, and a cognitive intervention class that gives you a new way of thinking, a new positive outlook on life.

Question: There’s talk of outside producers like Kanye West working on the next UGK album. But in the past, you’ve done a lot of the production work.

Answer: I’m a producer, but at the same time, it’s important to get other people’s flavors, and I’m excited about working with all the top producers in the country – they’re real receptive to us right now. It’s a beautiful time for us. We’ll do the UGK album this year on Jive Records. I’ve got a compilation, The Pimpilation, coming out soon on Rap-A-Lot. I’m doing a lot of guest appearances, and I’ll have a solo album coming out later in the year on UGK Records, me and Bun’s label.

Question: You’re on parole till 2009. How hard will it be staying out of trouble?

Answer: It’s like this, man: You’ve got to stay focused every day on this [expletive] …, because you’ve got one foot in prison and one foot out. I’m not gonna jinx myself and say it’s gonna be easy. But I’m gonna put my best foot forward and stay creative and do the right thing. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I don’t do no drugs. It’s a new way of living. I’m out now, and I’m gonna take advantage of that blessing.

Source: Dallas Morning News