Over 20 years since its release, "Big Pimpin" by Jay-Z featuring UGK is one of the most recognizable tracks in hip-hop history. And in the years since its recording and release, Bun B has been open about how easily the track could've never happened.
In a recent interview, Bun B explained how Pimp C's respect for Tupac was so high that he didn't want to disrespect Pac's legacy by doing a song with someone he disliked.
"I talk to Jay-Z all the time. We communicate very frequently. We have that shared experience," Bun told interviewer Steven Sulley. "We literally had the No. 1 record in the world."
"So, Tupac was not a Jay-Z fan, this is very well-known. Tupac was not a Jay-Z fan in his career, and when there was a West Coast, East Coast beef, he felt Jay-Z was part of the collective that were his enemies. Jay-Z was good [friends] with Biggie, good friends with Biggie who was [with Puffy], who Tupac felt betrayed him when he got shot."
Bun continued, "'Everybody that's cool with Biggie, I don't f*ck with none of them.' And Pimp C did not want to f*ck with people that Tupac did not f*ck with, because he thought Tupac was the best judge of character, right? So, if Tupac didn't like you, I don't like you, 'cause I'm like Tupac. I think like Tupac thinks, I move like Tupac moves."
He added, "And so, literally, when the call came, I remember Pimp used to have this big painting on the wall. And this was when the first call came—when the first call came from Jay-Z, 'cause that happened when we was in Atlanta, we was in the house in Atlanta, and he looked up at the wall and he just stared at the picture."
When Bun B finally asked what he was doing, Pimp C replied "I'm thinking, what would Tupac do? And Tupac wouldn't want me to f*ck with him."
"Tupac was a man of very high personal standards of character and did not have a lot of friends, because he knew that everyone did not move and carry themselves in a way that he did, and Pimp C felt the same way."
Source: Youtube.com
