ple’s funerals for years. Normally it’s for a criminal but I guess Pimp C [did] have a case. I don’t see the threat, but whatever. I don’t wanna say too much ‘cause it’s not like they’re not watching me and my life, the same way they watched his death. It is what it is. We come to expect certain things from certain people. I don’t think it’s so much that they were there for him as much as for who was coming there to pay their respects to him. But we can’t worry about what other people are gonna do. We just gotta mash forward. The Feds have always been there taking pictures. Yeah, I guess they were just a little more blatant about it at the funeral. Yeah, [they figured] since today all the other police agencies are out and they’re showing their colors, we’re gonna show our colors too. Even the S.W.A.T. came out. What are your thoughts on all the conspiracies theories popping up? People are gonna say anything anytime somebody passes away suddenly. They’re doing it now with Heath Ledger. Everybody has their opinions about what he was doing and what caused his death. It was probably just accidental. [Editor’s note: this interview was conducted prior to the coroner’s conclusion that Pimp C’s death in fact was accidental, caused by the use of prescription codeine mixed with a pre-existing condition called sleep apnea] Sometimes shit just happens. Do the wrong thing on the wrong day at the wrong time and you’re gonna die. Walk down the wrong steps at the wrong time of day and you’ll slip and fall. It’s kinda fucked up ‘cause it’s almost like they expect something bad and they’re not happy unless something bad is associated with it. Like [if the coroner says] Pimp C died in his sleep, [people would say], “Nah, that’s bullshit; somebody’s lying; somebody’s covering it up.” People still think Tupac is walking around somewhere. Has it been difficult within the UGK camp? I assume he didn’t really leave instructions on what he would want to happen in the case of his death. Yeah, nobody really [knows] in this case. Everbody’s still somewhat reeling from the shock of it as everybody comes out of their respective clouds. Everybody’s not just trying to figure out how to move forward, but how to move forward respectfully. That’s what I’ve pretty much been getting from a lot of his artists. They definitely don’t wanna stop rapping. They definitely wanna move forward with they rap careers. Pimp was definitely there for guidance so they’re still looking for guidance. I’m trying to help ‘em the best I can but it’s like, shit, I’m looking for guidance in certain areas too. This is a different walk for me too. I gotta get myself on solid ground before I can even begin to consider trying to help these other people’s careers. I’m just trying to give people the same advice I’m taking right now. It’s been rough. I’ve heard there’s some conflict within the family. You know, I’m not really sure about all that kind of stuff. I’ve been at home really getting my family together more than anything. I’m trying to make sure that in the event I would pass away suddenly that all my t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. I really just pray for everybody, all his friends and family and everybody, that this grief and strain and pressure of dealing with this gets lifted off of them ‘cause it’s not easy. If I were to pass away suddenly, who’s to say what my wife or mother would be going through? Who’s to say how they would be taking it or dealing with it? Me personally, I don’t take anything in a bad way, re74 // OZONE MAG
gardless if it was meant or not. People are dealing with a lot of emotions, not that anybody’s been anything but caring with me. People aren’t really sure what’s going on. The best thing I’ve been trying to do is stay close to God, making sure I got the right connections with my family. I just pray for everybody and myself that we can keep a clear mind through this shit. This shit is rough; this shit is fucking with people’s heads. Going back to the Biggie and ‘Pac comparisons, obviously we hope it isn’t, but do you think this is, like, the death of the South? The West hasn’t been the same since ‘Pac died. I wouldn’t say that, because I’m here and I’m from the South and I don’t think it’s over. But shit’s gonna have to be different. I’ve been in a very cushy position being the other half of UGK. I just show up and rap. The shit’s been very good for me. Now I have to get up off my ass and get a little bit more into shit. Everybody else is gonna have to do the same thing in the South. We’re not gonna have Pimp to speak on certain shit, so niggas are gonna have to take it upon themselves to speak. We’re not gonna have Pimp here to try and squash beefs so niggas are gonna have to take it upon themselves to squash beefs. We’re not gonna have Pimp to tell niggas, “I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, this is the South and we’re gonna be here.” We’re gonna have to take it upon ourselves to do that shit. There’s a lot of shit Pimp was trying to do and a lot of representing for the South and forward movement he was trying to get for the South throughout his whole career. He never felt satisfied. He always felt there were bigger and better places we could go as artists and people and that’s the thing we’re gonna have to carry on. Speaking of beef, he said a lot of controversial things before he passed, in OZONE and radio interviews. Even though he put the disclaimer on it that it was his opinion and not Bun’s opinion, did those situations affect you? Nah, not really. I’ve never worried about myself or whether any relationships I had with people were gonna be strained. I was really more concerned about him taking on the stress and pressure about feeling like he had to solve everybody’s problems and address every issue. I was like, “You don’t have to take up every cause, man.” But he just felt like if he didn’t speak on certain things then nobody was gonna speak on them. Sometimes some shit is better left unsaid. But who am I to tell any grown man what he can or can’t say? At the end of the day if that’s how he feels, then it’s just gonna be what it’s gonna be. It’s always been like this. That’s not the first time Pimp’s said some shit I ain’t agree with. It’s a lot of shit Pimp said that I didn’t agree with. That’s just being real, but you’re either down with somebody or you’re not. I can’t tell Pimp he can’t say that. I can tell Pimp it might not be cool if you say that; I don’t know if people are gonna appreciate that; some people might take shit a certain way. Who’s to say Pimp’s gonna even ask me how I feel about shit before he say it? Nigga don’t have to call me and say, “Yo, nigga, I’m finna call Julia and say this or that.” He’s a grown ass man; he can call who he wants and say what he wanna say. When you’re with people and down with people, even through the bullshit, even if it’s a lie, we’re gonna ride on that lie and deal with it when we get home. When you’re really, really down with somebody you gonna ride with ‘em no matter what. There’s instances where Pimp didn’t like a lot of shit going on. I wanted this group to be as big as possible, commercially, and there’s a lot of times where Pimp felt like I was compromising the street integrity of this group,
but I was just trying to put us in certain circles. I was just trying to get us paid. But Pimp was like, “Nah, man, we gotta do this shit a certain way or we can’t do it at all.” It’s a lot of shit that me and Pimp didn’t agree on but at the end of the day we were riding for each other. That’s what homeboys do. When Pimp spoke on the “17.5” dope prices and what not, of course, a lot of people took it as a diss towards Young Jeezy. The three of y’all had performed at the OZONE Awards together and everything, so it seemed like that just came out of nowhere. Do you know what sparked that situation? We never discussed that. He never called me and said he had an issue [with Jeezy]. I was like, “Wow.” When I had first talked to you about it, I hadn’t really heard about it. I hadn’t even read the whole [article]. I just heard about him saying something about me or Russell Simmons. Then when the whole thing came back, I was like, “This is finna look real fucked up. Certain people are gonna take this a certain way.” I don’t know if that’s what he meant. Like I said, he was gonna do what he was gonna do. He never said he was dissing Jeezy. Jeezy always said he didn’t take it as that. Whether or not them dudes had any issues or whatever, I never saw it. The last time Pimp and I were together was at Jeezy’s concert in Houston.
“It’s about Pimp; it’s about dealing with loss. It wasn’t easy.” There was no issues. Pimp’s whole reason for going was to show that there was no issue. I literally saw Jeezy two days afterwards when I went to Atlanta to the Dirty Awards – excuse me, the Radio One Dirty Awards. I saw Jeezy and I knew it was no problem, he knew it was no problem. We all know Pimp and what he’s gonna do and be like. Nobody took anything personally, whether it was meant to be taken personally or not. In Hip Hop, you can write a rhyme saying a nigga’s name and feel like you biggin’ ‘em up and nigga’s see you in the street and be like, “Yo, why’d you say my name? Don’t even say my name in shit.” At the end of the day it’s not even be about how I took it. That shit is about how the niggas I stand up for took it, especially when you a street nigga and you represent for the hood and streets. When I interviewed Pimp a few times he talked about his drug use in the past. He basically said that being in jail was kinda good for him ‘cause it helped him get clean of everything. Not saying that was the cause of death, but from what you saw was he able to stay clean since he was out? I didn’t see Pimp doing cocaine. I only saw him do cocaine one time and that was back in the 90s. I can’t attest to whether he was still physically doing cocaine. He didn’t piss dirty and he didn’t violate [parole]. I can’t say that he was doing cocaine, but I can’t sit there and say he wasn’t either. We haven’t gotten the toxicology reports back. His cause of death hasn’t even been determined yet. Pimp was never ashamed of who he was or what he did. Everybody’s got their own issues. Every man has demons. Every person has something they hope nobody ever finds out about. I know I probably got two or three things that I hope nobody ever finds out about.