The world lost a hip hop icon when UGK's Pimp C passed away 12 years ago. It was December 2007 when Pimp C, real name Chad Butler, was found unresponsive in his West Hollywood Hotel room after he didn't make it home where his wife, Chinara Butler, was waiting for him at the airport. She called the hotel and asked for the staff to check on her husband, and there they found 33-year-old Pimp C deceased from an accidental overdose of "purple drank" that exacerbated his pre-existing sleep apnea condition.
Chinara and Butler had only been married for four years and were looking forward to spending decades together. They share two children and since his passing, Chinara has been quietly carrying on her husband's legacy. In a rare interview, she sat down with BET to share bits of her life with Butler for their I Talked To series. On I Talked to Pimp C, Chinara recalls avoiding Butler when he popped the question.
"It was before I had my daughter Christian and for me I was 23, 24?" she said. "So, being married and making a promise to God was like, super scary to me. So, I do believe I [acted] like I didn't hear him and kept talking. That was easier. And I had to marinate. Then our life just went to having Christian, him going to jail, it was just like, yeah. I'm gonna stick with him through this [and] help however I can. We decided then that we were gonna get married." The two wed while Butler was serving an eight-year sentence for probation violations.
The soft-spoken widow also recalled her fondest memory of Butler that involved him saving her life. "During the time, Sweet James Jones [Stories], the project was coming out, and I was pregnant and I was feeling bad," she said. "That week and the week before. He was just about to leave to go on tour for the album and I was taking a shower and I passed out. I woke up. I was dressed and then I passed out again. I was on a stretcher. I woke up again and I was in a hospital. Like I said, I had an ectopic pregnancy. So, I was maybe three to four months so literally, I was bleeding to death." She additionally said that he made sure she always felt protected and at ease. Check out her clip below.