Big Pimpin'
| Originally Performed By | Jay-Z |
| Original Album | Vol. 3...Life and Times of S. Carter (1999) |
| Music/Lyrics | Carter/Butler/Freeman/Mosley/Joshua |
| Vocals | Jay-Z |
| Historian | Martin Acaster (Doctor_Smarty) |
| Last Update | 2023-11-21 |
History
Jay-Z's ode to not letting a bitch put his fist in handcuffs features additional rapping by Pimp C and Bun B (the Texas hip-hoppers known as the Underground Kingz or UGK) and a highly controversial (read as subject to multiple copyright infringement lawsuits) sample by producer Timbaland. This sample was from the song "Khosara" composed by Baligh Hamdi in the mid-20th century and originally recorded by Egyptian vocalist Abdel Halim Hafez and lends a decidedly middle eastern tone to a stream of consciousness that is characteristically crass; extolling the virtues of loving and leaving, spending G's, and rolling on B.L.A.D.'s.
Phish w/Jay-Z, "99 Problems," "Big Pimpin'" - 6/18/04, Brooklyn, NYPhish performed "Big Pimpin'" with the Jigga man himself spitting the rhymes during their second show at Brooklyn's KeySpan Park on 6/18/04. Whether or not you identify with the Ghetto Family, the Nitrous Mafia, or Crooklyn's own Marcy Posse it is undeniable that the Phish scene has in many respects – for better or worse – embraced the ethos of the "Big Pimpin'" thug lifestyle that unfortunately goes hand in hand with modern music whether it be rap, rock, or some combination of the two.
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