The story behind UGK and Outkast’s ‘Int’l Players Anthem’
It was a key hip hop collaboration of the 2000s, bringing together two duos in the form of UGK and Outkast. Their track, ‘Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)’, was a hit, but its beat had lived another life entirely before they jumped on it.
‘Int’l Players Anthem’ was released in 2007, and, while it only reached number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, that did represent a good result for at least one of the duos involved. Outkast had previously found great chart success, but for UGK, this was uncharted territory. The song was their first to enter the US pop charts.
Not only that, but ‘Int’l Players Anthem’ was nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group’ category. But, tragically, one half of UGK wasn’t there to see the ceremony play out. Pimp C unexpectedly died of a heart attack in December 2007, only months after ‘Int’l Players Anthem’ had come out and months before the Grammys took place.
‘Int’l Players Anthem’ was produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, but, in actual fact, they created the beat with someone else in mind. The music they laid down was actually used by Project Pat first, on a song called ‘Choose U’ that featured on his 2002 album Layin’ da Smack Down.
In other words, the beat of ‘Int’l Players Anthem’ had already seen the light of day a full five years before UGK and Outkast found success with it. DJ Paul spoke about this during an appearance on the I Talked To Pimp C series in 2018, explaining that Pimp C, who was in jail at the time, phoned him up to ask him if he could use the ‘Choose U’ beat himself.
“Pimp called me from jail,” Paul recalled, “He was like, ‘When I get out, the first thing I’mma doin’ is I’m comin’ to your house in LA, and I want you to give me that beat, and I don’t want you doin’ nothin’ different to it, Paul. Keep it the same.’”
DJ Paul did tweak it just a little bit, but only slightly, and Pimp C didn’t even notice. True to his word, he did visit Paul’s house after he got out of prison, and he rapped over the beat.
Paul was happy to use the beat again for a new song, as he felt Project Pat hadn’t gotten the best out of it with his effort. His version had found some success in places like Atlanta and Memphis, but, overall, it didn’t make many waves.
Paul and Pimp C were in agreement; there was more that could be done with this beat, and, together, they reworked it into ‘Int’l Players Anthem’. Outkast jumped on board, and they all had a hit on their hands, becoming one of Pimp C’s final acts in life.