Bun B says that he's had trouble enjoying the process of making music ever since the passing of his UGK partner, Pimp C.
Bun B says that he's struggled to enjoy making music in the years since the death of his UGK partner, Pimp C. The legendary rapper discussed the loss of his close friend and the impact on his music during a recent interview with HipHopDX.
“I haven’t really enjoyed making music since Pimp passed away,” he admitted to the outlet. “And so now that I get to make music with friends and I’m not under any contractual obligation, I make music because I want to not because I have to, so it’s a different experience for me. For me, it just has to be fun or I’m not going to do it. I just don’t want to do it.”
From there, Bun B discussed the ability of music to be cathartic, referring to his 2005 song, "The Story," which he wrote while Pimp P was incarcerated for a probation violation.
“The beautiful thing about music from a cathartic standpoint, is you can use it as an outlet to say what you want to say and express how you feel, but you don’t have to release it commercially,” he explained. “But it could be something that you do it. Like when I did ‘The Story,’ I recorded it one time and all the way through. Then for months, I couldn’t listen to it because it was so emotional and it was a mark in a specific time in my life where I was very low."
He added: “And so to listen to it was a reminder of how low I was, for me, initially. But now I listen to it and I realize, ‘Wow, look how low you are and look where you are now.’ So it just reminds me no matter how bad you think you feel and how low you think you are, remember how low you were here.”
Pimp C passed away in December 2007 at just 33 years old. His death was attributed to the use of codeine and promethazine, in conjunction with his pre-existing condition of sleep apnea.