| "Big Pimpin'" | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Jay-Z featuring UGK | ||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | April 11, 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 12-inch single, CD, Vinyl | |||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Hip hop, Gangsta rap | |||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam | |||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Shawn Carter Chad Butler Bernard Freeman Timothy Mosley Kyambo Joshua Baligh Hamdi (uncredited) |
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| Producer | Timbaland | |||||||||||||||||||
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"Big Pimpin'" is the last single from rapper Jay-Z's fourth album Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter. It features rapping by Southern hip hop group UGK as well as production by Timbaland.
Timbaland samples "Khosara", composed by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi in the mid-20th century and originally recorded by the famous Egyptian vocalist Abdel Halim Hafez for the track's beat leading to its Middle Eastern sound. A version of "Khosara", arranged and performed by Hossam Ramzy, can be heard on a CD compilation entitled, “The Best of Bellydance from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey” which also contains another song that Timbaland sampled for the Petey Pablo track, "Raise Up". In 2007, the song sparked controversy when a copyright co-owner of the sampled track Osama Admed Fahmy filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court, alleging that Timbaland illegally replayed portions of "Big Pimpin" note-for-note, using a melody lifted from the song. Jay-Z, Timbaland, Linkin Park and EMI Music Inc. were among the defendants named in the lawsuit. (Linkin Park because the track was also mashed up with their song Papercut on the collaborative EP Collision Course in 2004).[1]
This latest lawsuit follows an August (2007) decision by a California judge to dismiss another lawsuit by Ahab Joseph Nafal, who claimed Big Pimpin' infringed the copyright of Khosara, Khorasa. Lawyers for EMI Records argued the 50-year-old track was governed by the 1909 Copyright Act, AllHipHop.com reports.[2]
"Big Pimpin'" is the most commercially successful single from Jay-Z's fourth album as it reached #18 on The Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. In Rolling Stone's updated 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", the song ranked at #467. Despite the song's performance, Jay-Z later revealed he regretted the song's lyrics claiming that, "Some [lyrics] become really profound when you see them in writing. Not "Big Pimpin." That's the exception. It was like, I can't believe I said that. And kept saying it. What kind of animal would say this sort of thing? Reading it is really harsh."[3]
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The music video was shot in Trinidad during its Carnival and features Jay-Z on a music truck dispensing money into the crowd and partying on a lavish yacht. It was directed by Hype Williams.
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 29 [4] |
| End of year chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] | 60 |
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