The Making of UGK’s “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)”

There’s no questioning UGK’s legendary status. The Port Arthur duo’s DNA can be found in Southern stars from T.I. to Rick Ross—an elite bunch who proudly dub themselves UGK alumni—and their appearance on Jay-Z’s 1999 smash hit, “Big Pimpin” helped their influence cross regional boundaries. But, despite their immaculate track record, Pimp C and Bun B hadn’t cracked the Billboard Hot 100 with a single of their own until the release of “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)” in 2007. Featuring André 3000 and Big Boi of OutKast, the song served as the second single to their gold-selling Underground Kingz LP and garnered a Grammy Award nomination.

With the single, celebrating its fifth year anniversary tomorrow (June 6), XXL caught up with Bun B, André 3000, Big Boi, Juicy J and DJ Paul—their answers didn’t always match perfectly five years later—to look back on the making of this classic song.—Carl Chery (@cchery), Ralph Bristout (@RalphXXL) and Calvin Stovall (@CalvinStovall)

The Builders’ Spot

Bun B
Port Arthur rapper, one half of UGK

Andre 3000
Atlanta rapper, one half of OutKast

Big Boi
Atlanta rapper, one half of OutKast

Juicy J
Memphis rapper, producer, one half of Three 6 Mafia

DJ Paul
Memphis rapper, producer, one half of Three 6 Mafia

Juicy J: The beat was on Project Pat’s Layin’ da Smack Down album, you know, when Project Pat was in jail, and [the album] did like 300,000 copies or could be gold now. His first album went platinum, but he kept goin’ back and forth to jail, so the second one went, like, gold. Pimp C loved the song. It was called “Choose You.” When Pimp C got out of jail, he was like, “I want that same record that was on Project Pat’s album.” We [had] put that record out as a single [at first], but Sony didn’t push it ’cause Pat was in jail, so it didn’t do anything. Pimp said he wanted that same beat and [didn’t want] to change nothin’.

Bun B: I didn’t initially understand it. I had been down that road before where Pimp heard music and was like, “We need to use it.” And I was like, “Man, I don’t know.” We had a bad experience with that one time. First of all, let me say this. I don’t think a lot of people know that Project Pat was probably one of Pimp C’s Top Three rappers, period. So, Anything Project Pat-related, he was always the first to buy it, support it and crank it. When he came home that’s all he was screamin’, that Pat had this song on his album called “I Chose You” and the beat was attractive, but [Sony] didn’t really promote it.

When he came home he was like, “Man, I love this song and it was a hit and they didn’t promote that muthafucka like they should.” That’s all he kept sayin’, that [it] was a hit record. I was like, “There’s nothin’ you can do about that, but he was like, “I want to rap to that muthafucka.” I said, “You got to be kiddin’. You can’t rap to this dude’s song. His album just came out. It hasn’t been out that long. It was one of the albums that he got when he was locked up and listenin’ to. He said trust me, “I’m gonna call Paul tomorrow.” So, he called Paul and reached out to explain that he wanted to do the song. He was like, “Man, we got a big budget and I’m gonna make sure we break some bread and do the song.” They were all for it. Project Pat wasn’t trippin’.

DJ Paul: We brought that [beat] back out. It just didn’t work for [Project Pat] because Sony didn’t get behind it. Maybe 2002, 2003 or some shit or whatever. Pimp had told us he loved the record. [He] was like, “Man, that record a hit, man. When I get out [of prison], I want you to give me that beat. Leave it just like it is.” I’m like, “Alright.” So, when he got out, he came to our house in L.A. and we recorded the record.

Bun B: This song was never supposed to be UGK and OutKast. This song was UGK and Three 6 Mafia. The initial sampler from the album had [a] version with UGK and Three 6 Mafia. What happened was the sampler was released during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and it just so happened that Big and Dre got their hands on the sampler. We get one call from Big Boi sayin’, “Hey man, I love this song and did a little remix beat to it and if you guys want to use it, check it out.” They send it over and around the same time we get a call from Andre askin’, “Is that song closed out because I really like that song and want to jump on it.” This was just a matter of circumstance and at the same time we were havin’ issues gettin’ the lyrics cleared from Sony for Three 6 Mafia.

DJ Paul: Three 6 Mafia was originally on the record, but Sony was actin’ a fool and didn’t want [us on it], which was dumb as hell. They were still ridin’ off the hype [from] the Oscars and all that shit. They were more happy about [the award] than we were. So they was trippin’ on clearances for us [and] UGK ended up puttin’ OutKast on it, which was good. OutKast is a huge group. I love OutKast. I’m glad they were on it ’cause I got a chance to say I produced somethin’ for Outkast as well. Everything worked out for the best.

Big Boi: [Jive] called and was like, “We wanna get you and Dre on this remix with UGK.” We was on the same label. Organized Noize was doin’ a remix for it, so we was like, “Hell yeah, send it.” So they send it, and it was a couple other beats they had, too. But I guess the one we did was the one they decided to go on. It was just cool, man. I just commenced to attacking it. Dre had already put his verse on there, maybe a couple of days beforehand. Dre’s already on it, we need to get you on there. So we was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

André 3000: I would hear from Bun every now and then and we kept talkin’ about doin’ somethin’. When he and Pimp asked me to jump on the IPA song I was excited to work with them again. It wasn’t even nothin’ to think about. They sent the track and I just wrote what I thought “choosin’” for real meant to me. Since the sample in the record said, “I choose you”. I don’t know why I went to marriage as a topic, but I guess that’s the ultimate version of “choosin’.” The marriage and the reaction from guys and girls was the focus, so I just imaged what my potnas might say to me if I were to go down that road.

Bun B: Once we got in the Dre verse, which is what you hear. He was like, “I like it, but I want to rap without the drums, I want to rap over the loop.” The version that you hear Big Boi rappin’ over on the song is actually his re-production somewhat of the track. That’s why the sample is kind of dropped out over the beginning of it. That was his take of the song.

Big Boi: I was like, “Damn, you gon’ keep the beat out the whole damn time like that?” They gon’ let him keep the beat out? How they gon’ God Damn play this shit in the club if the beat ain’t in the muthafucka?” He always has a reason for it. The [way] I tailor made it to fit my verse, he made it fit his verse. Actually rappin’ over the steady beat, he couldn’t have been as laid back as he was.

Bun B: In the midst of not being able to clear Three 6 Mafia before the album comin’ out and the fact that OutKast was already signed to Jive as a group, it just kind of happened that way. “Player’s Anthem” was originally supposed to be a song from UGK and Three 6 Mafia because we were actually workin’ on a group together. UGK and Three 6 Mafia were workin’ on Underground Mafia that was goin’ to be a group with all four of us together.

Big Boi: It was dope. UGK, as far as a group in itself, is definitely one of our influences comin’ up. We used to bump UGK in high school. When our first album came out and then UGK did “Super Tight,” we was just fans of they music. 8Ball, MJG and UGK, so to do a record with them it was like, “Hell muthafuckin’ yeah.”

Andre 3000: I met Bun and Pimp C very early in our career. When we first arrived on the scene, I think there was a Southern kinship unspoken. Being that I listened to them in high school along with Odd Squad, Big Mike and Gheto Boys, I was happy to see how welcoming they were to us, the new guys, and they really kinda ushered us in. Throughout our time in the business, Pimp and Bun have always been true to us. Even when people where trippin’ on me for stretchin’ out and tryin’ new things I got a call from Pimp C and he said, “Man, fuck all these pussy ass niggas. They just scared and don’t know what to do with it. That shit y’all doin’ is the most gangster goin’ cause you doin’ what the fuck you wanna do.” After that, not that I was hesitant at all, but I knew if “Pimp C” of all supporters understood then … I’m good. Ha.

Bun B: Just the fact that [Andre] was interested in rapping on the song was a trip because at the time he wasn’t really rapping at all. He was like, “I’ll rap on it, but I probably won’t do a video, I’m not really shooting any videos.” We were like, “That’s fine, that’s no big deal. I would just love to have you on the record.” But once we got it we knew it was special. Everybody knew it was special. Andre just opened this song and Big just closed it. This is crazy.

Justin Bieber Brings 5,000 Police Officers For 300,000 Fans In Mexico City

Justin Bieber’s free concert in Mexico City on Monday night was welcomed by upwards of 300,000 screaming fans and approximately 5,000 police officers who turned up to be blown away by the teen star. Just before his perfomance he recorded a private messgae to his fans. See what he said to his fans and more pics inside!

“The pics of the crowds look CRAZY here in MEXICO CITY!! IM HYPED!! This is going to be fun! MEXICO I LOVE YOU! Te AMO MUCHO!!” Bieber tweeted, later adding, “everything about tonight was special. it is everything we stand for. alot of emotions but it was worth it. 300,000 people. Te Amo MEXICO. NO ONE CAN EVER TAKE AWAY YOUR DREAMS! BELIEVE. DREAM BIG!”

Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, tweeted that the show presented an “iconic moment.” According to The Associated Press, the 18-year-old played several tracks including “Baby,” “One Less Lonely Girl” (during which he brought a fan onstage) and “Somebody to Love.” There were approximately 5,000 police officers on hand to make sure the crowds remained as in control as possible.

“Mexico City, there is a lot of people today!” Bieber reportedly yelled to the crowd at the Zócalo in between songs. “Every one of you is my biggest fan.”

While his fans displayed their devotion for the singer by braving the crowd to see him perform, in a press conference earlier that day, Bieber admitted there’s only one guy he would camp out to see perform. ”There is no one I admire so much to do something crazy, but if Michael Jackson were here,” he said, “I would do it for him. So, I do understand the emotion that the girls feel, and that makes me feel very honored.”

Before taking the stage, Bieber opened up about the performance in a video he shot backstage. “I can’t say how thankful I am … This show here in Mexico City, it’s going to be incredible. I just wanted to make this video and tell you guys you inspire me just as much as I inspire you. God has really blessed me,” he says amid the shouts of his fans in the background. He added, “I hope to have this journey for a long time.”
Bieber has been traveling the globe and playing free shows, including headline-making stops in Oslo, Norway, and Paris.

He will officially hit the road on his already sold-out Believe Tour later this year.

L.A. Reid’s Closet Isn’t Like Yours

LV Trunks
“Rod Stewart’s manager Arnold Stiefel called me out in an interview, saying I had a valet who traveled ahead of me,” says Reid of the 10 Vuitton cases he has used to carry suits. “He made it sound so glamorous yet so over-the-top. I’m a little more sane now.”

Timepieces
“I used to be a collector, but I lost too many watches being careless,” says Reid. Among them: an antique Patek Philippe that was appraised for six figures. “It broke my heart, so I’ve stopped buying watches. I love them, but I’m done.” He owns about 50.

Bespoke Suits
“The majority of my suits are custom-made,” says Reid, who spends $2,000 to $10,000 for each — and that’s after wife Erica negotiates a bulk rate with certain tailors. Says Reid: “I just wanted the clothes, and I didn’t pay that much attention to [price], but Erica would double back and say, ‘No, no, no. … You are going to do this right, or he will not be back.’ Before you know it, I was getting a 50 percent discount.” On the high end of his collection are more conservative looks by Bijan of Beverly Hills, while X Factor tapings call for “something clean and simple, not loud.” One thing Reid wants to make absolutely clear: “Simon Cowell takes style tips from me, not the other way around.”

Monograms
Monogramming — be it on ties, cuff links or shirts — has deeper meaning for the music mogul, whose real name is Antonio Marquis Reid: “My 11-year-old daughter [Arianna Manuelle] and I have the same initials, and I like the idea that what’s mine will one day be hers.”

Pocket Squares
Reid’s pocket square philosophy is simple. “There’s no secret; I don’t fuss over them,” he says of his collection of more than 50. “Sometimes I’ll throw one in and just make sure it’s straight, but I don’t stress over colors or anything because I’ve already given it thought a long time ago. Most of the things in my closet I’ve had for eight, nine, 10 years, so I just know the stuff. I seriously can get dressed in the dark. Everything goes with everything; I don’t have anything in there that is, like, ‘Ewww …’ ”

Drake Gets ‘Stunted On’ By Billionaire T. Boone Pickens

Drake‘s clever lyrics and hip hop swag were reportedly no match for Billionaire T. Boone Pickens–who is ranked by Forbes Magazine as one of the wealthiest persons in the world.

Yesterday on twitter, the YMCMB’s rapper tweeted “The first million is the hardest,” but was shut down when Boone replied “The first billion is a helluva lot harder.”

Rather than try and stunt on someone more esteemed than he, Drake bowed out gracefully, saying: “@boonepickens just stunted on me heavy.”

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We’ve GOT ALL the information going down in ENTERTAINMENT, Oprah and 50 Cent, Eddie Murphy and Rocsi Diaz, Jessica Simpson Getting Paid to LOSE WEIGHT???, A PASTOR ABUSING CHILDREN?, WE GOT ALL THE NEWS ON TheNickyQuba.com

Jay-Z’s Tourist Tennis Moment, Serena Williams’ Big Hair

With one blackberry and one iPhone in tow, Jay-Z was probably the only man at the Men’s French Open with his hat backwards. Ain’t it beautiful to be yourself wherever you go?

Kim Kardashian and Beyonce “Bonded” and Danced Together Backstage After Atlantic City Concert

Ever since Kim Kardashian started dating Kanye West, there have been rumors floating around that Beyonce (Kanye’s “sister-in-law” through his friendship with her husband Jay-Z) wants nothing to do with Kim and her family … and she issued a stern warning that the reality TV star is NOT to infiltrate her “circle” of friends.

But it turns out those were just silly rumors (as usual) … because according to US Weekly, Beyonce actually invited Kim and her BFF Brittny Gastineau backstage to one of her highly publicized comeback concerts this past weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Kim watched the show from a luxury sky box, and afterward, went backstage to meet and hang out with Beyonce and her touring crew.

US Weekly reported that Beyonce and Kim “were seen greeting each other with an embrace and dancing together.”

“Kim thought it was such a great show,” a source told the magazine. “There’s always some random rumors there is tension between them and there totally isn’t! Kim had so much fun.”

Kim later took to her Twitter to talk about how much fun she had at the show, and what it felt like being backstage with Beyonce:

“Just walked backstage through Beyonces dressing room…no big deal….haha..surreal moment”

Sounds like Kim is officially down with the Beyhive now!

Abuse Accused Megachurch Pastor : Creflo Dollar Denies Charges

Atlanta megachurch Pastor Creflo Dollar was arrested and charged with simple battery, family violence and cruelty to children Friday (Jun 8) after the 50-year-old preacher allegedly assaulted his teenage daughter in their home.

But pastor Creflo Dollar denies abusing his 15-year-old daughter, telling his congregation the following Sunday that allegations detailed in a police report are nothing but “exaggeration and sensationalism.”

“I will say this emphatically: I should have never been arrested,” pastor Creflo Dollar said in the pulpit at the World Changers Church International — his first public appearance, just two days after he was arrested.

With over 30,000 members, Creflo Dollar — the founder and senior pastor of World Changers Church in College Park, GA — is one of the most prominent (not to mention one of the wealthiest) African-American preachers based around Atlanta, next to Bishop Eddie Long.

Dollar was arrested after his daughter called police to their home at around 1 a.m. early Friday morning. She told the cops that she and her father had gotten into an argument after he told her she couldn’t leave to go out to a party.

According to the police report, the girl told a Fayette County sheriff’s deputy that Pastor Dollar charged at her, put his hands around her throat, then began to punch her and hit her with his shoe. The deputy noted that he observed a scratch on her neck.

The police report also states that the deputy talked to Dollar’s 19-year-old daughter, who corroborated her sister’s story, and told also told them that her father grabbed her sister’s shoulders, slapped her in the face and choked her for “about five seconds.” She said her sister tried to break free, but didn’t fight back.

The older sister also says that she ran to get their mother after Dollar threw the 15-year-old to the floor. Dollar’s wife Taffi told the deputy that she didn’t see the fight.

Pastor Creflo Dollar reportedly received an enthusiastic ovation from his church members as he addressed the criminal charges head-on in a message before his sermon:

“I want you all to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household. The truth is that a family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional … And emotions got involved and things escalated from there.

“The truth is she was not choked, she was not punched. There were not any scratches on her neck … the only thing on her neck was a prior skin abrasion from eczema. Anything else is exaggeration and sensationalism.”

Dollar’s congregation was supportive as he took the stage, with some people in the sanctuary shouting “We love you!” and “We got your back!”

As the Reverand talked about how difficult it is to deal with teenagers these days in a “culture of disrespect,” many of his church members nodded in agreement, the Associated Press reported.

Creflo Dollar — who has a total of five children, and is a native of Georgia — has been preaching for almost 30 years, after originally starting his church in 1986 at an elementary school before growing it into a multi-million dollar operation with a weekly radio broadcast, four services every Sunday, and an $18 million, 8,500-seat sanctuary called the “World Dome.”

In a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, Dollar said that he renounced his church salary, and his income now only comes from personal investments, which include a real estate residential property business and a horse-breeding company called Dollar Ranch.

He has said that he sometimes gets paid up to $100,000 as a public speaker, and he is also a published author, with more than two dozen books to his name that mostly focus on family and life issues, like debt management.

Creflo Dollar has built his successful ministry on what is known as “prosperity gospel,” which teaches that God wants to bless the faithful with early riches.

Ministers like Like Bishop Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar and others who preach prosperity usually flaunt their own wealth to prove that their method of teaching actually works.

A statement from Rev. Dollar released shortly after the news broke that he had assaulted his daughter read:

“As a father I love my children and I always have their best interest at heart at all times, and I would never use my hand to ever cause bodily harm to my children. The facts in this case will be handled privately to further protect my children. My family thanks you for your prayers and continued support.”

His lawyer Nikki G. Bonner added, “My client will make no further comments as this is an ongoing criminal matter.”

Teyana Taylor Is The ‘Sexiest Virgin You Know’ On The Cover Of Black Men

Teyana Taylor is giving a, ‘look but you can’t touch’ tease for the fellas on the cover of next month’s Black Men’s Magazine. Over the weekend, she posted the cover on instagram with the caption,

‘The sexiest virgin you know, sh-t if I was u I’d hate on me too’

Should Diddy’s Son Justin Combs Return His $54,000 College Scholarship

Recently Diddy and Misa Hylton‘s 18-year-old son, Justin Combs, was awarded a full athletic scholarship to play football at UCLA this fall. A while later on CNN, a reporter asked if the Bad Boy prince should return his $54,000 college scholarship. See what happens below…

UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez, jumped in to defended the university for granting Justin with the scholarship. He explained,

“There is a big separation between financial aid based on need and how that’s funded and how athletic scholarships are funded and awarded to students…Unlike need-based scholarships, athletic scholarships are awarded to students strictly on the basis of their athletic and academic ability, and not on a student’s financial need…”

Justin is a pretty smart guy though. He graduated from high school with a 3.75 GPA and was a great football player. Yeah, his Diddy has money, but Justin has skills!