![Andre 3000, Pimp C.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.vibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3k.png?w=910&h=511&crop=1)
OutKast and UGK may have created a wedding staple with “Int’l Players Anthem,” but the recording process may have had a couple of bumps, according to Andre 3000.
A teaser trailer for an upcoming episode of the Uninterrupted’s The Shop featured LeBron James and co. talking to Andre about the song. Bron stated that they turned up to the song at Draymond Green’s wedding as Green and his wife, Hazel Renee, walked out to it. Maverick Carter explained how the transition from 3 Stacks’ verse to Pimp C‘s was elevated with the beat drop. Andre then shared an interesting fact about that portion of the track: Pimp C was initially mad at him for deciding to take the drums out.
“Rest in peace Pimp, but I got a story about that. Pimp was so mad at me because they sent the beat, and I wrote my verse, put my words down, and I took the beat out for me to rap. When I sent it back to them, Pimp was like, ‘Man, f**k this muthaf**a, man! This ni**a gon’ gahdamn take my beat out! Like, who the f**k he think he is?!'” Andre recalled with a chuckle.
“So he was really mad at the choice that I had made to take the beat. I don’t know if it was Bun or somebody, they were like, ‘Nah, but you don’t understand, when that beat drop, though, it sets it off.’ So it’s almost like a set-up. So it worked, and once he got that, he was like, ‘Okay, okay.’ But he was so mad at me.”
Music industry veteran Jeff Sledge previously told a similar story regarding the hit song in 2016 on the A Waste of Time podcast with ItsTheReal. He documented that Pimp C was angry at Andre for his decision, but explained why Andre 3K regularly requests for the drums to be removed from his verses.
“When André sent his piece back and had no drums, Chad was pissed off. He was like, ‘Man, f**k André, man! How the f**k is he gonna send my sh*t back and take my drums out? I’m muthaf**in’ Pimp C, f**k that.’ He was up at the office going off about André taking the drums out,” Sledge remembered. “André had a thing — and even if you listen to André’s stuff now—he doesn’t really like drums under his stuff much because he wants people to hear what he’s saying. I was like, ‘Chad, hold up fam. Let’s rock it like that because when André doing a capella and then when the beat drops, that’s when your verse drops. And then your verse is gonna lift the record up because now the beat is rockin’ and your verse is kickin’.’ And he’s like, ‘Alright, Jeff. I’m gonna give it a shot. If it f**ks up, it’s on you.'”
The full new episode, featuring Sexyy Red, Nigel Sylvester, and Jerry Lorenzo, is scheduled to premiere on The Shop’s YouTube channel on Friday (July 12) at 12 PM EST.
Watch the clip above.