Andre 3000’s Verse Almost Didn’t Make It On ‘Int’l Players Anthem’

Pimp C was an artist and he was serious about his sh*t. So serious that we almost missed out on one of Andre 3000’s — nay — one of rap’s best guest verses because of it. Thankfully, Jeff Sledge stepped in and showed Pimp C the light.

The former A&R stopped by ItsTheReal’s A Waste Of Time podcast and shared an unknown story about the first time Pimp C heard 3 Stacks’ verse on “Int’l Players (I Choose You).” While we all regard Stack’s verse as both iconic and highly quotable, Sledge recalls Pimp absolutely hating it for one reason and one reason only — the Outkast rapper altered the beat to better fit his memorable verse.

“You know it starts with Andre and kinda no drums?,” Sledge recalls, “just a cappella and stuff. When Andre sent his piece back, it had no drums. [Pimp C] was pissed off.” Hearing Sledge describe it, the UGK rapper was all caps, bold letters-type pissed. “He was like, ‘Man, f*ck Andre! He gon send my sh*t back and take my f*cking drums out. I’m muhf*ckin Pimp C. Take my muhf*ckin drums out?!”‘

I think we can all agree that Andre taking the drums out was a great call, something Sledge had to help Pimp understand and reconsider. “I’m like, ‘But Chad, let’s rock it like that because when Andre is doing a cappella and when the beat drops that’s when your verse drops and your verse is gonna lift he record up,'” the JIve executive remembers telling Pimp. “Now the beat is rocking and your verse is kicking!’ And he’s like, ‘Aight, Jeff. I’ma give it a shot. If it’s f*cked up, it’s on you.’”

And the rest was history! The song ended up being a favorite among fans and the only UGK record to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 70.