SWEET JONES: PIMP C’S TRILL LIFE STORY - JULIA BEVERLY

It’s amazing to me that this book isn’t more famous. There are really no equivalents which is surprising given how long and how totally hip-hop has been one of, if not the, most important branch of pop music. At this point we have a number of hip-hop autobiographies, some great (Prodigy’s), some boring (~50% of the Gucci Mane book, Rick Ross’ book, I assume), and a number of critical or theoretical hip-hop books, mostly embarrassing (DFW’s) but some a great (Holler if You Hear Me), and even a great general history (Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop) but I’m not sure there’s another biography of a major rap star that’s this extensive and researched. SWEET JONES is a 700 page behemoth of a biography and excavation of UGK’s Pimp C, that, due to its magisterial length, manages to touch on nearly everything important or interesting in Hip-Hop, especially Southern Hip-Hop. I think one could expect a book called Pimp C’s Trill Life Story to be mostly about UGK’s career, but no. The book is packed with stories about Rap-a-Lot and J. Prince, No Limit Records, Cash Money Records, The Dungeon Family, DJ Screw, the circa 2006 explosion in Houston Hip-Hop (think Paul Wall and Mike Jones), Three 6 Mafia and Memphis at large, the lurid Big Lurch stuff, Too $hort, the politics between the Southern and NYC Hip-Hop scenes, and that’s just the stuff directly within Hip-Hop. The book also dives into the Texas Judicial system and explains why “There’s never a good time to be arrested, but Chad’s timing was particularly bad.” before going on to brush up on the New Jim Crow stuff to explain the political conditions of Pimp C’s famous mid-career stint in jail. There’s stuff about crime, lots of a material about the mechanics of drug-dealing as well as the stories of the actual pimps who come into Pimp C’s orbit (there’s a section where Too $hort explains why they both had to turn down women seeking to choose up, since neither was interested in “hustling backwards”), Freaknik, as well as the history of making it rain (a B.M.F., who also get lots of screen-time, invention) and stuff about drug culture. While it certainly blew up during his life, the syrup sippin’ phenomena has only become more mainstream since this book came out and the topic gets the best treatment I’ve ever seen at multiple points in the book. Fascinatingly, Beverly reports that Three 6 and UGK consciously choose to feature Activas, the most famous (and now discontinued thanks to Bieber) purple version of the syrup, in videos and in songs because it was the most photogenic especially when mixed with soda (the “traditional” texas manner, pioneered by people like Townes Van Zandt, involves drinking it straight or mixed with cheap wine). Most of the members of Three 6 and UGK, including Pimp C, preferred the Robitussan version, which was yellow and nick-named “snot” which made it less prime-time friendly. There’s also much more PCP smoking than I realized. It’s certainly in the music but I didn’t put together how much the scene around DJ Screw linked syrup, PCP and weed. They definitely thought of it as a package deal but it’s hard to imagine Drake making a song about smoking fry on a private plane (to be clear, if you’re reading this Drake, please make such a song). And even while all this peripheral stuff is so interesting and engaging Beverly also really digs into Chad himself and offers a great biography on a personal level. There’s a deep dive into his relationship with his mom (who tell Beverly she prefers the Pimp C persona and has a bizarre, and I would argue, unhealthy, relationship with the various women in Chad’s life), all sorts of stuff about him and Bun B, as deep dives into his various contradictions. At the same time Pimp was going off about the need for Southern artists to come together and squash beefs and get money together, he’d get on the radio and tell people Atlanta wasn’t the south or that someone was lying in a song about the real price of cocaine. It was interesting to hear that he was a big BEHOLD PALE HORSE and was very into (often quite homophobic) conspiracy theories about the rap business and world at large (his mom was convinced he was murdered). He’s a fascinating guy but this book is more interesting than the subject itself. I want like 5 more of these books. It’s insane that there aren't a dozen of these 700 page deep dives on more famous rappers and their milieus. To give you a taste of how extensive this research was, Beverly tracks down and includes a picture of the kid who went to high school with Pimp that, apparently, coined the word “trill.” Where is the Tupac version of this? Why isn’t there one of these about Ghostface? Lil’ Wayne? Kanye? Snoop? Figures that are much more famous than Pimp C. Maybe someday. Part of what makes this book unique is Beverly’s proximity to the subject. She ran OZONE magazine throughout most of UGK’s career and was able to meet and mingle with Pimp dozens of times before he died and clearly has a longstanding, trusting relationship with some of the key people involved. Occasionally, she goes out of her way to justify herself and her position which I found unneeded and distracting, the sheer heft of the book speaks for itself. Anyway, if you’re interested in any of the topics I listed above, I’d really suggest you read this. 1 underground king.