Port Arthur rap duo UGK might have gone worldwide last year with their "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)," but at Sunday night's 50th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, rapper Common's "Southside," about his Chicago home, reigned supreme.
Both were nominated in the "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" category, and despite the loss, the music community was eager to praise the contribution of the late Chad "Pimp C" Butler, who, with his partner and longtime friend Bernard "Bun B" Freeman, comprised UGK and helped define the southern hip hop sound.
On December 4, 2007, Bulter, a native of Port Arthur, died in his sleep in a Hollywood hotel.
One could easily find proof of Butler's influence by scanning the audience. There was Jay-Z, nominated twice, who in 2000 was nearly upstaged by Pimp C on Jay's own track, "Big Pimpin'."
There was 50 Cent, whose smooth delivery and defiant glorification of the street life drew from the same well as UGK's 1994 classic, "Pocket Full of Stone."
Butler's influence is even evident in the sound of freshman rapper Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, whose "Crank That" was nominated in the Best Rap Song category. The teenager wasn't even born when UGK's debut cassette, "The Southern Sound," hit the streets in 1987.
"Pimp C had a style all his own," recalled controversial New York City rapper Nas, when asked during a post-award press conference about the late MC's rhyme skills. "The 'pimp' thing is nothing new to hip hop, but there was something about the way Pimp C brought that style that was unique."
Bun B was unavailable for comment after the ceremony.
Still, though UGK didn't win the Grammy. The summer belonged to "International Players Anthem."
The eagerly anticipated song lived up to the expectations placed upon it as a result of UGK's four year forced hiatus.
Butler was released from prison in 2005 after being convicted of an aggravated assault charge, and though few hip hop acts manage to endure for more than a few years, UGK in its second decade roared back to the top of the rap charts, and racked up almost one million YouTube hits with "Anthem."
In the video, which features a memorable cameo by fellow southerners Outkast, Butler is dressed in a floor length white fur coat and big brimmed hat, and as he tosses money on the floor, he celebrates his life's good fortune: "I'm pullin Bentleys off the lot/I smashed up the grey one, bought me a red/Every time we hit the parking lot we turn heads."
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