On this day in Hip-Hop history, Houston’s own UGK released their second studio LP Super Tight… As the duo’s first project to make an appearance on the Billboard 200 chart, this album marked their transition from underground superstars to legitimate Hip Hop legends in the making.
With this album, it is obvious that the group had begun to refine its engineering abilities. Their usual rough around the edges sounds quality has been revamped allowing for cleaner vocals and crisper production. With the new quality also came a new fan base. Rap fans across the country were beginning to acknowledge Hip Hop coming from the south as the new sound. The smooth southern style of Pimp C and Bun B was a pleasant change from the growing hardcore scene that was growing on the East Coast and pistol gripping gun-slinging gangster rap that came from the West.
Commercially, the album was a breakthrough. Peaking at #95 on the Billboard 200 and selling over 370,000 copies nationwide, Super Tight… was UGK’s most popular album to date and set up their rise to power as the Kings of Texas rap.
For countless reasons, Ridin’ Dirty, UGK’s third full-length LP, hits as close to home in 2020 as it does when it was first released 28 years ago on July 30, 1996. This doesn’t surprise Bun B, nor would it bewilder Pimp C if he were still physically among us today.
Coming together to form the Underground Kingz in the late 80s, the two Port Arthur, Texas-born musicians knew exactly what they were seeking to achieve when they walked into the studio for their third go-around at a full-length project, creating what unknowingly at the time would inspire two generations (and counting) of what has become quintessential Southern Hip Hop.
The album solidified UGK’s permanent place within the culture, with the group unapologetically speaking for an entire region and paving the way for the artists that came after them, much like the leaders within the East and West coast music scenes were doing. However, pioneering the uncharted Southern frontier for Hip Hop wasn’t an easy task, with Pimp C and Bun B running into various sets of challenges along the way, such as proving themselves simultaneously as innovators of the genre and as masters of the craft.
Twenty eight years ago, on the record’s release date, a commercial aired on television promoting the project without involving the creative input of Pimp and Bun. When the pair saw the advertisement for the first time, both were perplexed as to why the record company associated them with what was, in their minds, an unapproved visual incorporating a scene with a desert and a limousine, the furthest two components of UGK’s day-to-day reality. That disconnect between the music, the mission and the industry grew into what would become a challenging and reoccurring pattern, with the pair having to consistently balance not compromising who they are, while also not angering the record company or resulting in their music being shelved.
“I may have records that are going to get more radio spins than others, but that’s not the kind of music that resonates with people as deeply as records such as ‘One Day,’” Bun B says. “That’s what you want to do as an artist. You want to touch as many people as deeply as possible in the moment. Ridin’ Dirty, for us, was the first time we were able to do that. We were able to do what we wanted to do, and say what we wanted to say, and that’s why the album best represented us.”
Salute to Bun and Pimp (RIP) for this timeless piece of Dirty South Hip Hop history!
Megan Thee Stallion’s new album, MEGAN, will be released this Friday. Ahead of the release, Hot Girl Meg has released the tracklist, revealing that UGK, GloRilla, Victoria Monet, and more will join her on the 18 tracks. You can see the full tracklist below.
Houston Hip Hop legend Pimp would’ve turned 50 years old today
Born Chad Lamont Butler on this day in 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 this past summer.
Pimp C lost his life on December 4, 2007, from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He passed just weeks shy of his 34th birthday. Even though his physical presence is gone and is sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to his music.
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.
On this day in Hip Hop history, infamous Memphis underground legends Three 6 Mafia release their fourth studio album When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1. Ironically peaking at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart, this project brought Three 6 Mafia that much closer to penetrating the mainstream with their unique style of horrorcore Hip Hop. To follow the theme of the previous two albums, this album’s title continues on the post-apocalyptic theme that can be translated to the group’s (successful) attempt to take over the mainstream Hip Hop industry, insinuating that “when the smoke clears” Three 6 Mafia will still be around standing strong.
One of the attributes that set this album apart from anything Three 6 has put out in the past is the number of features that come with it. UGK, Insane Clown Posse, Big Gipp, Mr. Serv-On, Fiend, and Twiztid all appeared in the project. This album also toted some of Three Six Mafia’s most popular and recognizable tracks, including “Sippin’ On Some Sizzurp” and “I’m So Hi,” which both grew to be staples of underground rap history.
Commercially, this album opened the door for Three 6 Mafia to ensure their place among some of the titans of the era. Selling 1,000,000 copies in the year of its release, When The Smoke Clears allowed the group to have the following they needed for their forthcoming film Choices to be as successful as it was.
Following this album, Three 6 Mafia bloomed on the rap scene, going on to release six more highly successful albums as well as two films and an Oscar for their work on the Hustle and Flow soundtrack, making them the only rap group to receive the award.
Born Chad Lamont Butler on this day in 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 this past summer.
Pimp C lost his life on December 4, 2007, from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He passed just weeks shy of his 34th birthday. Even though his physical presence is gone and sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to his of their own music.
Born Chad Lamont Butler on this day in 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 this past summer.
Pimp C lost his life on December 4, 2007, from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He passed just weeks shy of his 34th birthday. Even though his physical presence is gone and sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to his of their own music.
Born Chad Lamont Butler on this day in 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 this past summer.
Pimp C lost his life on December 4, 2007, from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He passed just weeks shy of his 34th birthday. Even though his physical presence is gone and sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to his of their own music.
Born Chad Lamont Butler on this day in 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 this past summer.
Pimp C lost his life on December 4, 2007, from an overdose of promethazine syrup, which is called “lean” on the streets, in West Hollywood, California. He passed just weeks shy of his 34th birthday. Even though his physical presence is gone and sorely missed, many artists still pay homage to Sweet Jones through his music and dedication to his of their own music.
