Underground Kingz

The Underground Kingz (UGK) were a hip-hop partnership formed in Texas by Chad "Pimp C" Butler and Bernard "Bun B" Freeman in 1987. Pimp C was found dead in December 2007, but the material he was working on is still slated for a posthumous release.

UGK released their major label debut Too Hard to Swallow in 1992, but had to wait for Super Tight for chart success, when it made the top half of the Billboard 200. After the release of 1996's Ridin' Dirty, which made the Top 20 of the album chart, the band took a five year break. During this break they collaborated on their most successful projects to that point, appearing on Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin’", which made the Top 20 of the Hot 100, and Three 6 Mafia's hit "Sippin' on Some Sizzurp". Unfortunately they were unable to sustain their increased profile for their next release Dirty Money.

In 2002 Pimp C found himself in prison, and while UGK’s record label released the Best of UGK, the pair had to embark on solo ventures. Pimp C's Sweet James Jones Stories, released while he was still in prison, failed to make a big impact. However his first post-incarceration release Pimpalation featured the single "I'm Free" which Rolling Stone voted amongst the year's best. Meantime, Bun B’s 2005 release Trill made No.1 on the Billboard R&B charts and debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200.

In 2007 UGK released Underground Kingz which included collaborations with Three 6 Mafia, Talib Kweli, OutKast, and other hip-hop luminaries. The album debuted at No.1 in the Billboard 200, but just four months later Pimp C was found dead from an accidental overdose of cough syrup and painkillers; he was 33.