Matt Sonzala of Houston So Real posted the audio from the December 4th edition of his Damage Control Radio, done in honor of Pimp C. The show features numerous underrated and unreleased Pimp C cuts as well as conversations about the man himself. You can download the show below, or at Matt's blog where you can also get the tracklist and read his amazing interview with Bun B from yesterday. After the jump, read our never-before-seen story on Pimp C from Issue 40.
Download: Damage Control Pimp C Tribute
Family Tree: Pimp C
Story Edwin "Stats" Houghton
Ask Pimp C about influences and he’ll relate the night in December 1983 that Shannon Holmes let him hold Run-DMC’s self-titled LP for one night so he could dub it onto cassette like it was the story of the Holy Grail. Ask him what exactly captivated him and he’ll launch into the immortal Run verse that begins Two years ago/ A friend of mine… like it just dropped, pausing after each couplet loosed in slo-mo drawl to ask, “You know what I’m talm bout?” until reaching the lines, Fly like a dove/ That come from above…concluding, I wanted to be the man.
Ask him how he made the leap from youthful fascination with New York rap to crafting an original southern flow with partner Bun B, and he’ll simply say, “I figured out a long time ago I couldn’t talk like New York, so I stopped tryin’ to rap like them.” Just in case there was any doubt, he clarifies, “This not a act. This is how I taawlk.” Point out UGK’s role as pioneers of country rap, pre-figuring the sound that “all these motherfuckers is callin all these different names—crunk and all this other shit” and he’s quick to run down a list of unknown Texas soldiers like Street Military and Coppertone Conspiracy, who went ghetto gold without a major label or placement on gangsta soundtracks. “We didn’t consciously shape a certain sound. When I took a handclap out of my 808 and made it into the snare and played the hi-hat double-time for the first time, I wasn’t settin out to make no statement.”
Pimp still combines natural southern double-talk and the pure swagger of Run’s shack-to-Cadillac narrative with a feel for melody inherited from his father, Charleston Butler—one-time trumpet player for Solomon Burke. His new album Pimpalation, a sort of back-to-the-world party celebrating Pimp’s recent release from prison, features a who’s who of southern rap cats from Mike Jones to Jazze Pha. The guest list is so long, in fact, it prompted one reviewer to quip that C was a guest on his own record. Ask Pimp C how he feels about that and he’ll bawl, “You dumb motherfucker! Don’t you know it’s a comp-u-lation? Can’t you get compilation from Pimpalation? Where do they find these people?”
