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 |
| Phish Debut | 2004-06-18 |
| Last Played | 2004-06-18 |
| Current Gap | 644 |
| 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.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation