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Shea Serrano's new book The Rap Year Book goes through the history of rap music in America, dissecting one song from every year from 1979 to 2014.
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136 The Rap Year Book 137
2000
Big
jAy Zfeaturing uGK
Pimpin’
The very first thing we see in the video for “Big Pimpin’” is a very big yacht, and all
through the video the party that happens on it and away from it is a very big spectacle,
and the very last thing we see in the video for “Big Pimpin’” is the very big yacht, and
that was all a deliberate move to relay the following:
Jay wrote “Big Pimpin’” shortly after he’d been charged with assault for stabbing
record producer Lance Rivera in the stomach during an altercation at a nightclub.1 Had
he been convicted, he might have seen upward of fifteen years in prison. That possible
reality served as the impetus for the world he built in “Big Pimpin’”: “The contrast be-
tween the million-dollar extravagance of the ‘Big Pimpin’’ video and the potential of be-
ing behind bars for years behind a mindless assault wasn’t lost on me. Both were about
losing control.” Jay Z wrote that in his 2010 book, Decoded. He further explained: “It’s a
song that seems to be about the purity of the hustler’s thrill—pleasure cooked down to
a crystal.” And even further: “If the price is life, then you better get what you paid for.
There’s an equal and opposite relationship between balling and falling.” He anticipated
a catastrophic fall, so he balled stratospherically. His pimpin’ was the biggest it ever was,
and ever got, really.
When the actual trial date neared, though, Jay hedged his bet. Nervous he’d catch the
violent reflex of a justice system that’d attempted and failed to lock up Puff Daddy the win-
ter before for a shootout he was involved in at a separate New York nightclub, Jay settled
(“No way was I going to allow myself to be a sideshow for the state”). He pled guilty to the
charge and received three years probation,2 and that is 100 percent a fair trade.3
It’s a weird thing to be thankful that someone was stabbed, but I am grateful to Rivera
for taking that L, as we all should be.4 Without that happening, (maybe) Jay isn’t motivat-
ed to live through the “most paranoid and hedonistic” period of his life, and so we (may-
be) don’t get “Big Pimpin’.” That would’ve been a real tragedy. He should’ve stabbed five
or six more people. He might’ve written the most transcendent rap album of all.5
What this song is aboutImpulsive living.
Why it’s importantJay Z was, by then, a certified
star. UGK, while heralded in rap,
was still largely unknown outside
of their core fan base. Their
pairing here, and the success that
came from it, helped rearticulate
the northern and southern rap
conversation.
RAPYEARBOOK_4thPASS_0507.indd 136-137 5/11/15 5:13 PM
138 The Rap Year Book 139
♦
Jay Z had twenty career singles before “Big Pimpin’.” Of those,
only three were RIAA certified gold (“Dead Presidents,” “Can
I Get a . . . ,” and “Hard Knock Life”). “Big Pimpin’” was his
first platinum single.6 “Big Pimpin’” was also UGK’s first career
platinum single. The song was produced by Timbaland (a true
hero), and the video, which became the first rap video featured
on MTV’s Making the Video, which carries with it its own knot
of supplemental offshoots, was directed by Hype Williams (also
a true hero). The song was included in Rolling Stone’s count-
down of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (number 467) as
well as their countdown of the 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All
Time (number 16). It was nominated for a Grammy (Best Rap
Performance by a Duo or Group) and an MTV VMA (Best Rap
Video). In totality, it was the most successful pairing of a rapper
from the North with rappers from the South7 that had occurred
up to that moment, and its brilliance lent itself as inspiration
for others to try, even if they never could quite match the glow.
♦
Quick aside: Rap videos with less impressive boats.
2nd Place: The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize,” featuring
Puff Daddy (1997) The boat here is the second most im-
pressive rap video boat. Biggie’s bowler hat is the first best
bowler hat, though.
3rd: young Bleed’s “How ya Do Dat,” featuring C-Loc and Mas-
ter P (1997) Young Bleed put nine hundred people on this
boat, and that’s way too high a population density. I figure this
boat capsized about fifteen minutes after Master P’s verse.
4th: Big Tymers’ “Oh yeah!,” featuring Boo and Gotti (2002)
They were on a boat that cost a few hundred thousand dol-
lars to rent per week, and they brought a portable basketball
goal on board with them. I miss the Big Tymers so much.
5th: B.G.’s “Bling Bling,” featuring Hot Boys and Big Tymers
(1999) I MISS THE BIG TYMERS SO MUCH.
6th: 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different” (2012) This boat never even
made it to the water. 2 Chainz just hung out in it while it
was being carted around on the streets. What royalty.
7th: The Fugees’ “Ready or Not” (1996) Lauryn Hill. ☺. But
also ☹.
8th: Pusha T’s “Can I Live” (2011) This was a total misplay. He
was just on a boat rapping, not doing anything else. Pusha
T is a drug-dealer rapper. His name is literally “Pusha.”
Give this man the yayo and let’s make a proper drug-
transporting video, please.
9th: Theophilus London’s “I Stand Alone” (2011) It was a
rowboat. Like, a real, for real, actual rowboat.
♦
Jay Z avoiding a fifteen-year prison sentence is a monumental
What if . . . moment in rap. SO MUCH stuff would’ve been differ-
ent. It’s a string of possibilities superseded by only two other
potentialities:
What if Tupac had not been murdered in 1996?
What if Biggie had not been murdered in 1997?
Others on the What if . . . list that fall somewhere below
those top three: What if the Hot Boys never disbanded? What
if DMX favored cats instead of dogs? What if BET: Uncut never
existed? What if Patrick Ewing didn’t miss that finger roll?
What if Lauryn Hill didn’t go crazy? What if Chris Tucker made
Friday 2? What if Plies used his government name?8 What if Suge
Knight was two feet shorter?9 What if Dr. Dre was Mr. Dre? What if
Halloween didn’t fall on that weekend? What if Kanye never had
his heart broken? What if the Fresh Prince’s dad hadn’t aban-
doned him? What if Lil Wayne was from, say, Rhode Island? What
if Snoop didn’t beat his murder charge? What if Soulja Boy never
1. He did so because he’d been told that Rivera was responsible for Vol. 3 . . . Life and Times of S. Carter leaking a month before the official release date.
2. Jay was sentenced in December of 2001. Four months before that, he’d released “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” the first single on the album that followed Vol. 3. On “Izzo,” which he’d written after the charges came down but before the sentencing, he rapped, “Cops wanna knock me, D.A. wan-na box me in / But somehow, I beat them charges like Rocky.” This was (highly likely) a miscalculation on his part—he (probably) thought he actually was going to beat the charge. Or, I guess I suppose he could also have been talking about the first Rocky movie, where Rocky loses at the end but really he wins.
3. This is an easy assertion to make when it’s not your abdomen being gouged into.4. To be clear: I don’t want anyone to be stabbed. But if we can detract the violence of the event from what came after it, then, yes, I am for real
thankful.5. Please see footnote 4.6. From “Big Pimpin’” to 2014, he’s had twenty-one singles that were gold or platinum. 7. The least successful was when Jay Z tried to co-opt Juvenile’s free-form flow on the “Ha (Remix).” Oh, man. That was a sad day.8. Algernod. ALGERNOD. That’s not a rapper’s name. That’s the name of a mischievous elf in a Disney movie.
RAPYEARBOOK_4thPASS_0507.indd 138-139 5/11/15 5:13 PM
140 The Rap Year Book 141
“Big Pimpin’” is not a bad song. It’s a very, very good song.
“So Fresh, So Clean” is just superior, that’s all.
To be great, “Pimpin’” requires the aid of not only UGK’s
Pimp C and Bun B but also a “mutilated” sample from an
Egyptian film whose makers are still suing for the way Jay Z
and his producers butchered it. Not saying overstacking is
always a damning quality (see “Monster,” page 198, which is
clearly the correct choice for 2010), but in this case, the muses
are clearly on the side of “Clean,” which careens into Classics-
ville with its slick, timeless, endlessly applicable simplicity.
Big Boi and Stacks float on a carefree wave of well-tailored
greatness, and the fact that they did this much without fea-
tured artists or problematic samples (they use Joe Simon’s
“Before the Night Is Over,” and possibly an unconfirmed riff
from Funkadelic’s “I’ll Stay,” neither of which has garnered a
lawsuit) speaks to “Clean”’s exceptional nature.
I mean, I still have absolutely no idea how to process the
line “I love who you are / I love who you ain’t / You’re so
Anne Frank,” but considering the rest of the song, I’m gonna
just maintain that comparing a lover to an optimistic Jewish
child hiding from and eventually caught and murdered by
Nazis is a singular compliment. —DEVON MALONEy
rebuttal: “so Fresh, so clean” outk ast
2000 “Big Pimpin’” — Jay Z, featuring uGK
Supermanned any hoes? What if Lil’ Kim didn’t do that to her
face? What if Master P’s tank was just a normal-ass tank?
But to the original point: Originally, Pimp C didn’t want to re-
cord for “Big Pimpin’.” It wasn’t in line with the sound he and Bun
B had built for UGK.10 “We put the [‘Big Pimpin’ ’]reel on and we
hear these flutes and this happy music . . . and I’m like, maaan. I’m
not doing it. I called [Jay Z] and said, ‘Hey, man, are you trying to
sabotage me?’ He said, ‘Look, fam, it’s gonna be the biggest record
of your career.”11 Eventually, he was convinced to do it. Bun B
was glad. “It was probably the biggest chance that we took in our
career, but it ended up being the biggest payoff as well.”12
So, what if UGK passes again on Jay’s invite to be on one of his
songs? They never do “Big Pimpin’” together. What happens? Does
Jay Z just keep it moving and do it with Three 6 Mafia instead?
Or maybe Jay takes offense at having been turned away twice.
And maybe Jay, already short-tempered from having Nas
gnawing at him, attempting to goad him into war—maybe Jay
snipes at Pimp C and Bun B in a song instead of how he went
for Nas’s neck. And so then instead of getting the historic “Take-
over” vs. “Ether” 2001 battle (see page 142) we get a true North
vs. South rap war, because there is a zero percent chance that if
Jay says Pimp C’s name in a song, Pimp doesn’t spend a planet’s
worth of energy attempting to unravel Jay Z’s career. How does
that play out?
Is it Biggie and Tupac again—an uncontrollable firestorm that
ends in tragedy? Or does the fight stay on tape like how the Jay Z
vs. Nas feud did? And if Jay never calls out Nas by name on “Take-
over” then Nas never records “Ether,” right? And if he doesn’t
record “Ether,” then which direction does his legacy point?
Because “Ether” is for sure a critical part of the Nas legend. And
how does he use his extra time? Do we get to Nas’s reggae period
ten years earlier, and is rap even ready for that in 2000?
Or maybe Nas, having watched Bun and Pimp throw salt on
Jay as two vs. one, teams up with Jay behind some home-team
allusion? And so we get Jay Z and Nas vs. Bun B and Pimp C?
When it’s over, do Nas and Jay Z release a duo album together?
Is it any good? Or maybe the two couldn’t get their styles to
congeal and it flops and so they both just sort of fizzle around in
New York, local titans but that’s it? Oh my god: WHO MARRIES
BEYONCÉ IF SUCCESSFUL JAY Z ISN’T THERE? Is it Kanye?
Or does Jay Z somehow still end up with Beyoncé except now
it’s not really a power couple, it’s more of a Britney Spears
and Kevin Federline couple? Does Beyoncé spiral into insan-
ity? Does Britney Spears end up recording “Single Ladies”?
Whaaaaat issss happpppening?
“Big Pimpin’” is the representation of a time in Jay Z’s life
that almost wasn’t. But it’s also a linchpin in history, keeping the
reality line from sprigging out into all sorts of weirdo directions.
9. That puts him somewhere near as tall as George Costanza, and fucking NOBODY would’ve been afraid of Black George Costanza.10. In 1998, Jay extended an offer to UGK to be on a song called “A Week Ago” from Vol. 2 . . . Hard Knock Life. Pimp C opted against it and
they passed.11. This quote comes from a book called Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland & How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing.12. This quote comes from a 2014 interview with BET.com.
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