André 3000 Talks “Int’l Players Anthem” On LeBron James’ The Shop: “Pimp Was So Mad At Me”
André 3000 is fully in spiritual jazz mode — he’s got another tour supporting New Blue Sun coming up this fall — but it didn’t stop him from reminiscing about his rap days during a visit to LeBron James’ HBO talk show The Shop. In a clip circulating online, Three Stacks discusses the making of UGK and OutKast’s 2007 classic “Int’l Players Anthem.”
First, LeBron let André know the song had the crowd going wild at fellow NBA star Draymond Green’s wedding. Then André told a story about the making of the song. As you’ll recall, André has the first verse on the song, before the drums come in. It turns out he made the executive decision to remove the beat, and when he sent his verse back to the late Pimp C, “Pimp was so mad at me.” Eventually someone, possibly Bun B, convinced Pimp that doing it this way set Pimp up for a grand entrance along with the drums. It’s a fun tidbit, and watching André smile telling the story warms my heart.
Watch below.
