Send "Pimp C " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 "Talkin' bout my first solo album, bitch," says Pimp C at the outset of The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones. "I ain't never had one before." He's sort of right. Sweet James Jones Stories, his official debut, was a cobbled-together collection released while Pimp served out a prison sentence. Pimpalation, the follow-up, actually came out while Pimp was alive and free, but, obviously enough, the man conceived it as a compilation-- a way for Pimp to showcase himself among all the artists and producers in his expanded circle, rather than a stand-alone statement. And sadly enough, it's impossible to tell how much of The Naked Soul is the real solo debut that Pimp wanted to release.Pimp's been dead for nearly three years, a casualty of some combination of unprescribed prescription cough syrup and sleep apnea. Plenty of the material on the album sounds like it dates back to the era just before Pimp died, as his duo UGK roared back to life with the triumphant double album Underground Kingz. Other tracks could've been finished only later-- after Pimp's death. One of the album's guests, the onetime Pimp protégé Lil Boosie, has been in prison, facing murder charges, for about a year now. Another, Drake, has really had a career only in the years following Pimp's death; even though Drake calls himself "an honorary resident of UGK-town," I'm not even sure the two ever met. (And given Pimp's outspoken views on sensitive R&B types like Ne-Yo, it's easy to imagine Pimp mercilessly mocking Drake in public if their careers had had a chance to overlap.) Parts of the record, like the regrettable Jazze Pha collab "Fly Lady", feel like chintzy time-capsule artifacts from a forgotten 2007. Others have the sad air of a posthumous Tupac album-- left-behind sketches of freestyle verses, given new music and preserved only because the man isn't still around to improve on them. Like every other Pimp C solo album, this isn't really an album; it's just a bunch of tracks thrown together. That's a lost opportunity because Pimp C knew how to put albums together. As half of UGK, he produced some truly dazzling Southern rap full-lengths-- giving plenty of room to his blues and soul and swamp-funk influences without ever letting them overwhelm his thunderous low-end thump, helping to establish the blueprint for 90s Southern rap in the process. As a vocalist, he was also the duo's emotional core, singing choruses in a strutting, pinched falsetto and sneering his verses in a thick, arrogant twang while partner Bun B played the wise and precise elder to his unreformed knucklehead character. Pimp himself didn't produce a single track on The Naked Soul, so we only get to hear a part of what made him great. But that overwhelming swagger remains very much on display here....full text |
| Hiphopsite |
| At the beginning of The Naked Soul Of Sweet Jones, Pimp C states “My first solo album, bitch. I ain’t never had one before. They dropped that other shit while I was in the penitentiary…. I got out and dropped that comp on they ass and fucked them up….this is Pimp C starring in the Naked Soul of Sweet Jones“. He refers to his first two solo albums, Sweet Jones Stories and it’s follow up, Pimpalation, neither of which he considers his debut solo LP. Passing away in 2007, he would never see – or finish – what would ultimately be that LP. These words are hauntingly professed on “Down For Mine”, the album opener which finds Pimp in his element, crooning falsetto over a classic 70′s break (also used for this track), setting up the album nicely. “What Up” follows, with Boi 1da utilizing more vintage soul samples, as Drake helps animate the track with his colorful delivery and UGK partner Bun B adds his own verse to solidify things. The sticky funk of “Love To Ball” is also classic Pimp C, as he crafts a Cadillac anthem with Chamillionaire riding shotgun. Even the overused Jazze Pha sounds refreshing here on “Fly Lady”, while E-40 completely steals the show on the we-been-doing-this anthem, “Since The 90′s”. While all of these tracks are Pimp C at his core, the album gradually loses it’s soul as it progresses, trading dusty samples for keyboard synth and his usual overly done live instrumentation. Much of the rest of the LP gets drowned out in guest appearance driven tracks from the usual suspects, covering the same topics over and over again. It doesn’t get more ignorant than “Dickies” (feat. Bun B & Young Jeezy) (“got my dickies on hoe, got my dickies on hoe”, and repeat), that is, unless you count “Made For Me”, where he and Too Short discuss the existence and duties of vagina. Rick Ross and Slim Thug appear together on the forgettable “Midnight”, while already expired Webbie and Lil’ Boosie deliver their usual dosage of hood hop with “Hit The Parking Lot”....full text |
| Hiphopdx |
| Pimp C's final album 'The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones' proves Pimp is sorely missed, with collaborations with fellow UGK member Bun B, Drake, Jeezy and Rick Ross. Kanye West released the song “Runaway ” as a means of toasting the douchebags, scumbags, and assholes that he not only relates to, but made a career out of being. What that really means is Kanye feels justified in his social irreverence, complete with lyrics of jumpoff sex and ménage á trois. What Hip Hop sometimes forgets is that others before 'Ye perfected this art long before it was done in designer suits and earned the title “douchebag.” Pimp C’s The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones reminds us of that. When UGK legend Pimp C a/k/a Chad Butler left the planet on December 4, 2007 his final work was in its infantile stages. Pimp C was a recording machine, dropping verses on a dime and practically living in the studio. The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones, believed to be a follow-up to 2005’s Sweet James Jones Stories, probably sounds little like what Pimp would have crafted himself. However, the naked soul of Sweet James Jones is still very much present, which makes Pimp’s final offering a built-in classic in its own right. On the opener of the album, “Down 4 Mine,” it’s already dripping in pimp juice as UGK’s beatsmith Cory Mo’s production (and Scarface’s concept) have Pimp singing following a very telling monologue. Whether it’s poor placement or speaking from the heart, but Pimp’s entry into this song begins with him referring to The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones as his only real solo LP. Pimp explains that his other releases were during his time in jail and basically pieced together. Ironically, so is this album. What follows is a roller coaster ride into the mind of Pimp C, complete with tales of misogyny, drugs, and everything in between. While most lump this all into the category of “pimp shit” a la Too $hort and all of his successors, Pimp C manages to do this with grace. He’s somehow not offensive, which is a gift in and of itself....full text |
Pimp C lyrics
|
| |||||||
