"International Players Anthem (I Choose You)" is a song by American hip hop duo

UGK UGK (short for Underground Kingz) was an American hip hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, formed in 1987, by Chad "Pimp C" Butler and Bernard "Bun B" Freeman. They released their first major-label album, ''Too Hard to Swallow'', in 1992, followe ...

, released on June 6, 2007, as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their fifth studio album ''

Underground Kingz ''Underground Kingz'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo UGK. The album was released on August 7, 2007, by Jive Records. The album includes collaborations with Z-RO, T.I., Talib Kweli, Rick Ross, Jazze Pha, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy ...

'' (2007). The song, produced by

DJ Paul Paul Duane Beauregard (born January 12, 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Paul, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia and uncle of the late rapper ...

and

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established i ...

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

, features verses from fellow

Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memph ...

duo Outkast. The song's beat was originally produced for

Project Pat Patrick Earl Houston (born February 8, 1973), better known by his stage name Project Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, the co-founder of Three 6 Mafia. Houston was formerly a member of hip h ...

, who used it on the track "Choose U" from his 2002 album '' Layin' Da Smack Down''. The instrumental contains a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

of "I Choose You" by

Willie Hutch William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s. Biog ...

. The song hit number 70 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, making it their first and only song to reach the chart. The song's official

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

, featuring verses from Three 6 Mafia, is a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

on the album.

Music video

The song's official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, directed by

Bryan Barber Bryan Barber (born December 20, 1970) is a music video and motion picture filmmaker. He has directed many music videos for popular artists, including Outkast's "The Way You Move" and "The Whole World". Barber is known for sprinkling scenes fro ...

, premiered on

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the ...

on June 4, 2007. The video is centered on the fictional wedding of Outkast member Andre 3000, progressing through the men's waiting room before the ceremony, the wedding itself, the reception, and the afterparty dance. Before the wedding ceremony, UGK member

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...

and friends ridicule Andre 3000 for supposedly rushing into getting married, and poke fun at him for wearing a red kilt ("I've got Scottish in my family," Andre calmly states). DJ Paul humorously says that it makes him look like

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for hi ...

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWE). Andre defends his decision to get married, saying that he is ready to take the next step in life, and in turn berates his friends for not looking to get into commitments themselves. During the wedding, Andre talks about text messaging past flings and telling them that he has found love and will be giving up his life as a player. The audience remains seated as the bride, played by actress Salina Soto ('' CSI:NY'', ''Forbidden''), marches to the altar, a boy plays with an oversize toy spaceship, and one of Andre's past flings makes a side remark to him (the verse that is being rapped), to the dismay of her date,

Fonzworth Bentley Derek Watkins (born February 13, 1974), known professionally as Fonzworth Bentley, is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and author. He is perhaps best known for being Sean Combs' former personal valet and assistant, as first see ...

. A choir and its director sing the "I Choose You" vocals as the wedding progresses, while the groomsmen and other friends implore Andre to "keep your heart, 3 stacks!". Later at the afterparty, two of Andre's past flings get into an argument while attempting to catch the bride's bouquet, which escalates into a full-blown fist fight that destroys the wedding cake and much of the buffet. The male onlookers are pleasantly shocked, the bride is almost reduced to tears, but the rest of the main characters (including the bride) all smile at the end, apparently having a good time. The video features

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s by Bishop Don "Magic" Juan,

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He was the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click from 2001 until the group split in 2005. He began his ...

, T-Pain,

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Ban ...

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the country ...

Nicole Ari Parker Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe (born October 7, 1970) is an American actress and model. She made her screen debut with a leading role in the critically acclaimed independent film ''The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love'' (1995) and went on ...

Big Gipp Cameron Gipp (born April 28, 1973), better known by his stage name Big Gipp, is an American rapper from Atlanta. He is best known for his work as a founding member of Goodie Mob, which he has gone on to release six studio albums. Aside from Go ...

, comedian

DeRay Davis Antoine DeRay Davis (born February 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actor.Todd Davis (February 2, 2008)Steph Jones: Heart & Soul ''HHNLive''. Accessed July 18, 2008. Life and career Davis was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began ...

, and comedian Alex Thomas, along with actor

Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. Early life ...

. This became the last video appearance of UGK member

Pimp C Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and record producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as one half of the hip-hop duo Underground Kingz (UGK). ...

, before his death on December 4, 2007.

Accolades

The song was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded between 1991 and 2011, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. The award was discontinue ...

at the

50th Annual Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies ...

. The song was number 10 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007 and number 91 on their top 500 greatest songs of all time.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

's "Top 500 songs of the 2000s" listed the song at number 43. At the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards in October, "International Player's Anthem" was nominated for Best Video and won Best Collaboration. Kanye West had won the Best Video award but felt UGK deserved it more, subsequently calling up Big Boi during his acceptance speech, who returned the award feeling West deserved it. At the 2008 BET Awards, the song won

BET Award for Video of the Year The BET Award for Video of the Year is given to the most popular music video released the same or previous year of the year the awards are handed out. The award is only given to the performing artist(s) or group in the video. The award is not hande ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 2007 singles Music videos directed by Bryan Barber Outkast songs UGK songs 2006 songs Songs written by André 3000 Songs written by Big Boi Songs written by DJ Paul Songs written by Juicy J Jive Records singles Posse cuts Songs written by Bun B