"Pimpin is a song by American rapper

Tony Yayo Marvin Bernard (born March 31, 1978), better known by his stage name Tony Yayo, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of G-Unit, a hip hop group he formed with his childhood friends 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks. Yayo released his deb ...

, included as a track on his debut studio album ''

Thoughts of a Predicate Felon ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felon'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Tony Yayo. It was released on August 30, 2005 through G-Unit/ Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place at Sound One, at Integrated Studios, Sony Music Studios, ...

'' (2005). The song's production was handled by record producer

LT Moe Todd Daniel Moore, professionally known as LT Moe (sometimes stylized as L.T.-mOE) is an American record producer from Cleveland, Ohio. Production credits 2004 Ludacris - ''The Red Light District'' * 10. Spur of the Moment (featuring DJ Quik & K ...

, who also helped in the writing process with Yayo. Musically, "Pimpin is a rap song expressing Yayo's desire to be able to legally

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

women. It is backed by an upbeat, "bouncy" production containing elements of digital guitar. "Pimpin received generally mixed reviews from music critics: although some praised the song's upbeat production, others called the song "bland" when compared to Yayo's previous work, which typically covers a darker subject matter. Despite not being released as a single, the song received considerable airplay on US

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

radio stations, which resulted in the song charting at number sixty-six on the US ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. An accompanying music video was filmed for the song, directed by production group Fat Cats.

Background and composition

"Pimpin was written by

and

, with Moe also handling production duties. The song was recorded by Moe at Encore Studios – a recording studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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. Audio mixing was carried out by Steve Baughman at

Right Track Studios Sound on Sound Studios, formerly known as MSR Studios (Manhattan Sound Recordings) is a photography and movie producing company recording facility in Montclair, New Jersey. Its forebear, MSR Studios, was located in Manhattan, just outside Times Squ ...

, a recording studio in

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. The song was mastered by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner. It is listed ninth on the track listing for ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felon'' and is of three minutes and six seconds in length, consisting of three choruses separated by two verses, all performed by Yayo. Lyrically, the song describes Yayo's desire to legally

women and treat them with a luxurious lifestyle, and refers to how other men simply chase their pleasures. The lyrics are backed by a "bouncy" production which, according to The Michigan Daily writer Ewan McGarvey, consists of "tiny digital-guitar frets". Some music critics have described the song to be of a less dark and intense nature to many other songs on ''Thoughts of a Predicate Falcon'', such as "Homicide", "Drama Setter" and "Live by the Gun", which invariably chronicle subjects such as murder, prison and drugs.

Critical reception

"Pimpin received generally mixed reviews from music critics, with some also noting that the song felt out of place on ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felon'' when compared to the more intense songs that appear on the album.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer David Jeffries named "Pimpin as one of the album's best songs, along with "

So Seductive "So Seductive" is a song by Tony Yayo as the first single from his debut album '' Thoughts of a Predicate Felon'' (2005), it features guest vocals from 50 Cent, and was produced by Punch, who helped write the song along with Tony Yayo and 50 Ce ...

", "Drama Setter" and "Dear Suzie". Pedro Hernandez of RapReviews commended the song's "bouncy production", but criticized its concept as "unoriginal", and for this reason called it a "track that only Yayo fans will appreciate". Whilst commenting positively on more intense and "brutal" songs such as "Homicide", Ross McGowan of

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

criticized the tempo of "Pimpin, calling it "bland", and felt that the song's music video was the only thing making it interesting to listen to, writing that "it’s way less fun to hear when it isn't accompanied by continuous footage of G-Unit’s main men wrestling each other for face time". However, The Michigan Daily writer Ewan McGarvey called "Pimpin one of the "few charming songs" on ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felon''. He noted that "simplicity kind of works for Tony", but also wrote that "it's not the real G-Unit manifest destiny". He concluded that "Yayo's old mix-tape career gets cannibalized" for the song.

Chart performance

Despite not being released as a single, "Pimpin debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart issue dated August 6, 2005: it went on to spend seven weeks the chart, and peaked at number one. The song then debuted, and peaked, at number 66 on the US ''Billboard''

chart for the chart week dated October 1, 2005, and went on to spend three weeks on the chart. Chart-position wise, "Pimpin is the second most successful song of Tony Yayo's career, behind only ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felons first single "

", which reached number seven on the corresponding chart and also peaked at number 48 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Music video

The

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 ...

for "Pimpin was released as a double-music video along with the video for Yayo single " Curious". Both sections of the video were directed by production group Fat Cats. After three minutes and eight seconds, the video segues from the "Curious" section to the "Pimpin section, which lasts for a further one minute and thirty-six seconds. The "Pimpin section of the video is set in a warehouse, and features Yayo rapping the song's first verse and first two choruses, with this footage alternating with the other members of G-Unit Records members lip-syncing sections of Yayo's lyrics. Whilst all this occurs, several girls attired in black dance in the background.

Credits and personnel

The credits for "Pimpin are adapted from the liner notes of ''Thoughts of a Predicate Felon''. ;Recording * Recorded at Encore Studios,

. ;Personnel *

– songwriting,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, recording * Steve Baughman – mixing * Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering

Charts

References

{{Tony Yayo Songs about procurers 2005 songs Tony Yayo songs Songs written by Tony Yayo Songs written by LT Moe