Rapper Pimp C found dead at Sunset Strip hotel (Mondrian West Hollywood)

LA Times ^ | 12/5/07 | David Pierson and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

[BurbankKarl]

Rapper Pimp C, an influential hip-hop figure credited with helping launch the popularity of Southern rap, was found dead Tuesday morning at an upscale hotel on the Sunset Strip.

Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics responding to a 911 call found the 33-year-old native of Port Arthur, Texas, lying on his bed at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood.

"It appears that he died naturally," said Capt. Ed Winter of the county coroner's office. "There were no signs of trauma, no signs of drug paraphernalia."

An investigation is pending.

Pimp C, whose real name was Chad Butler, was a member of the Texas hip-hop duo UGK, which scored a No. 1 album earlier this year.

The Mondrian released a statement Tuesday saying staffers checked Butler's room after family members called asking his whereabouts.

"Mr. Butler had checked into the hotel on 28 November and, according to the callers, was to have checked out" Monday, the statement read. "Security personnel went to Mr. Butler's room and found him in bed, apparently expired. A 911 call was placed at about 9:20 a.m. and paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department responded and pronounced Mr. Butler dead."

UGK's seventh album, "Underground Kingz," reached No. 1 on the national album chart in August, but mainstream stardom eluded Butler and his partner, Bun B, for most of the group's 15-year career.

[BurbankKarl]

He be illing

[Pistolshot]

Another bad-boy rapper meets a bad end. How many is this so far?

[AppyPappy]

33 and he died naturally?

“What do you mean he died naturally?”
“Well, someone shot him in the head so naturally he died”.

[keepitreal]

....and now he be chilling

Thanks for the laugh.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Isn't this the same hotel where John Belushi met his end?

[50sDad]

Humm, a dead rapper. That’s unusual.

[chadwimc]

“...southern rap...”??? What the hell is that?

“We be mofos, y’all”???

[BurbankKarl]

Maybe he ate at Roscoe’s

[evets]

.". was a member of the Texas hip-hop duo UGK..."

unnngh...

[Grunthor]

He be CHillin, room temperature dogz!

[ArmstedFragg]

Nope. Chateu Marmont for John.

[BurbankKarl]

UGK kind of sounds familiar? I think...might have heard them on XM if it was a ballad or something.

I used to listen to Run DMC, Beastie Boys, NWS in college...but I cant understand the stuff people blare out of their cars now. Guess I am old...err....I mean vintage.

[Xenalyte]

Nope - Belushi died at the Chateau Marmont.

[andy58-in-nh]

Try not to let this destroy your faith in the Rap Community, but I thought death from “natural causes” for those upstanding citizens meant lead poisoning. 9mm lead poisoning.

[evets]

Fo shizzle, my nizzle...word.

[o_zarkman44]

Don’t forget sickle cell.

[andy58-in-nh]

“...southern rap...”??? What the hell is that?

That be grits 'n' shizzle.

[Redleg Duke]

"Another bad-boy rapper meets a bad end. How many is this so far?"

Not enough.

[evets]

Will Pimp C get a 'dead rapper' skateboard?

[Moonman62]

Never heard of him. I listen to Pimp A, anyway.

[CougarGA7]

Looks like a misplaced comma to me.

“It appears that he died, naturally”

[dblshot]

Country Rap = Crap

[The Lumster]

the 33-year-old native of Port Arthur, Texas

First Janis Joplin, now this. The Port Arthur curse strikes again!

[andy58-in-nh]

Don’t forget sickle cell.

These rappers are so ignorant they think "sickle cell" is where the cops hold your ass overnight if you've got the flu.

[M203M4]

Although their collaborations with higher-profile artists, including Jay-Z (on the hit "Big Pimpin' ") and the Oscar-winning rap group Three 6 Mafia (with which UGK recorded "Sippin on Sizzurp," an ode to getting high from drinking cough medicine), are considered hip-hop classics, UGK's more enduring claim to fame may be helping establish Southern rap.

In 2002, Butler was sentenced to eight years in prison after falling behind on court-ordered community service...that sentence had been imposed after the rapper-producer pleaded no contest to aggravated assault charges; he had brandished a gun during an argument with a woman at a shopping mall.

Unlike today - when a young rapper must get shot in the face and eat an ounce of crack - I see 'Pimp C' established his street cred by getting high on cough syrup and threatening to shoot women in shopping malls. Baller.

[ZeitgeistSurfer]

A terrible loss for humanity and Western culture.

[HereInTheHeartland]

First the music world loses Pavoratti, and now this great loss.

[cbkaty]

This was front page news today in the Houston Chronicle......

Who the hell is Pimp master C? The bigger question is, Who gives a sh_t?

[silentreignofheroes]

Southern Rap..?

Hope he got straight with his Maker..

[bill1952]

>Mr. Butler had checked into the hotel on 28 November and, according to the callers, was to have checked out” Monday ...

Well, thats just too easy ... Welcome to the Hotel California.

[pepperdog]

Hopefully he had no children, and if they do exist hopefully they are not named Pimp C Jr. What is it with those disgusting names and the illiterate spelling?

[Lx]

Was Cathy Smith or Gordon Lightfoot around?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Belushi

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Southern rap ?

[pissant]

Harsh tokes.

[M203M4]

On the left.

[silentreignofheroes]

Yep,,Looks like a couple Southron Boys to me..

[Hot Tabasco]

Southern rap,...?

Is that rappin' 'bout losin yo dog, yo truck and yo ho?

[Argus]

“Pimp C, we hardly knew ye.”

I was reading this story to my wife this morning and she asked why he called himself Pimp C. I said, “Imagine you want to be a rapper and your name is Chad. Whaddya gonna do?”

[ValerieTexas]

High camp

[GOP Poet]

Maybe someone finally tol’ him rap is dead.

[fella]

Maybe he ate at Roscoe’s

Is there a link to the King Cotton "chicken Rap" song from "Tapeheads"?

[LexBaird]

Hopefully he had no children, and if they do exist hopefully they are not named Pimp C Jr.

Naw, the kid would be Pimp L. His girl would be Pimp D.

[SwankyC]

The world mourns the loss of another great...Oh wait, never mind.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Bon mots]

Southern Rap? I'm confused...

[BurbankKarl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9dBiw7xfVU

[svanni]

I wonder how Bun B is taking the news. Poor Bun B.

[CASchack]

Who?

[TexasRepublic]

I would be banned for saying anything appropriate!

[advertising guy]

ain’t rappin’ really just hood types who can’t sing so they rhyme words and talk it out ?........say ,there’s music
.................NOT.....................