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UGK's Pimp C Found Dead

Tue., Dec. 4, 2007 4:01 PM PST by Natalie Finn

Rapper Chad "Pimp C" Butler, who along with hometown pal Bernard "Bun B" Freeman made up the chart-topping group UGK, was found dead Tuesday morning in a West Hollywood hotel room.

Paramedics and officers responded to a 911 call placed from the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Boulevard and were directed to a room on the sixth floor. They found Butler lying on the bed, fully clothed. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the call came in about 9:30 a.m.

A spokesman for the county coroner said it appears the 33-year-old "Dirty Money" purveyor died of natural causes. No drugs or related paraphernalia was found in the room, and it didn't appear as if anyone had been in the room with Butler when he died.

"At this time, there's no signs of foul play," Capt. Ed Winter said.

An autopsy will be performed and a full report, including the results of standard toxicology tests, should be ready in six to eight weeks.

"We mourn the unexpected loss of Chad," Jive Records president and CEO Barry Weiss said. "He was truly a thoughtful and kindhearted person. He will be remembered for his talent and profound influence as a pioneer in bringing southern rap to the forefront.

"He will be missed, and our prayers remain with his family and Bun B. I've known Chad since he was 18 and we loved him dearly, and he was a cherished member of the Jive family."

By Tuesday afternoon, the rapper's MySpace page featured the headline: "C the Pimp is FREE at last."

Butler had performed Saturday at the nearby House of Blues along with rapper Too $hort, and was also in Los Angeles to work on his next solo album for Rap-A-Lot Records, according to his manager Rick Martin, who was called to identify the body.

"He was my best friend and I will always love him," Martin said in a statement.

UGK, which stands for Underground Kingz, has been a fixture on the underground hip-hop circuit since the release of its first album, The Southern Way—available only on cassette—in 1992, followed closely by their Jive debut, Too Hard to Swallow. Their second effort, Super Tight, managed to crack the Billboard 200, topping out at 95, in 1994.

While Butler and Freeman remained partners for nearly two decades, UGK was forced to take a break when Butler was sent to prison in January 2002 on an aggravated assault charge. During his incarceration, both rappers recorded solo albums but were back in the studio together after Butler's release in December 2005.

The Port Arthur, Texas, duo's seventh album, the critically praised UGK, debuted in August at the top of the Billboard 200 with 160,000 copies sold.

They can also be heard on the Jay-Z hit "Big Pimpin'" and on the Three Six Mafia tune "Sippin' on Some Sizzurp." In October, UGK shared BET Award honors for best collaboration with Outkast for "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)," off of UGK.

Butler is survived by a wife and three children.