| "Big Pimpin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJay-Z featuringUGK | ||||
| from the albumVol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter | ||||
| Released | 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:44 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Timbaland | |||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
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| UGK singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Big Pimpin' ft. UGK" onYouTube | ||||
"Big Pimpin'" is a song by American rapperJay-Z. It was released in 2000 as the third and final single from his fourth studio albumVol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999). It features aguest appearance fromSouthern hip hop duoUGK and production fromTimbaland.
"Big Pimpin'" contains asample of "Khosara Khosara", aninstrumental performed byHossam Ramzy and originally composed by Egyptian composerBaligh Hamdi in 1957. In 2007, Hamdi's relative Osama Ahmed Fahmy filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court alleging that producerTimbaland's use of the track was unlicensed, while its use of a sampledloop, instead of the full unaltered track, violated Hamdi's "moral rights".[1] He additionally claimed that Jay-Z needed permission from each of Hamdi's four children to use the track, as they owned its copyright after Hamdi's death in 1993.[1] That same year, a 2005 lawsuit filed by Ahab Joseph Nafal, who claimed "Big Pimpin'" infringed the copyright on "Khosara Khosara", was dismissed.[2]
In 2011, a California federal judge ruled that Fahmy could proceed with his suit, with Jay-Z, Timbaland,Linkin Park andEMI Records among the defendants named. Linkin Park was included because the track was mashed up with the single "Papercut" from their 2004 EPCollision Course, a collaboration with Jay-Z.[3] Lawyers for EMI Records argued the then-50-year-old track was governed by the 1909 Copyright Act.[4] Jay-Z testified four years later that he was unaware his song contained a sample of "Khosara Khosara", and when asked why he did not check the rights to its use, he replied, "That’s not what I do. I make music."[1] Lawyers for Jay-Z and Timbaland claimed that Hamdi's family had been paid for the sample. On May 31, 2018, theNinth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's grant ofsummary judgment in favor of Jay-Z,et al.[5]
The music video was shot inTrinidad during itsCarnival, and features Jay-Z andBun B on a music truck dispensing money into the crowd and partying on a lavish yacht. Due toPimp C's refusal to fly to Trinidad, his verse and the video's closing scenes were filmed inMiami Beach, Florida.[6]
"Big Pimpin'" was the most successful single fromVol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter, peaking at #18 on theBillboard Hot 100 and topping theRhythmic Top 40 chart while achieving platinum status.Rolling Stone ranked the track #467 on its 2004 selection of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[7] However, Jay-Z said toThe Wall Street Journal in 2010 that he regretted the song's lyrics. "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."[8]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[19] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[20] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[21] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
