Pimp C didn't like the beat for Big Pimpin'
Jay-Z released his fourth studio album Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter on December 28, 1999. The album's third and final single “Big Pimpin'” featured the Southern Hip-Hop legendary duo UGK over the beat produced by Timbaland.
Pimp C of UGK didn't like the beat for “Big Pimpin'” “It sounded like a pop record to me… I didn't want to do it. It scared me, because I didn't know how people was going to take us going in that direction.” Pimp C told MTV's Sway in 2005.
He continued saying Jay-Z told him ‘Look, family: It's going to be the biggest record of your career. If you don't do it for yourself, just do it for me.' “That was good enough for me, so I jumped on it.” Pimp C said.
With convincing from his UGK partner Bun B and Jay-Z himself, Pimp C agreed to record the verse only if it would be 8 bars long. “I said that's cool, eight bars, no problem, just get on the fucking record,” Bun B said, he continued saying “This song's gonna be a big deal. He sent it (Pimp C's verse) back to me and I listened. Eight bars. I just rapped for something like 20 bars trying to out rap Jay-Z, and this motherfucker just did it in eight bars.”
Pimp C also refused to travel to Trinidad for the music video. They shot his scene in front of a beachfront mansion in Miami Beach, Florida.
