The death of UGK's Pimp C has been ruled an accident, triggered by large amounts of codeine medication in conjunction with the rapper's pre-existing sleep condition. "He had prescription medication in him when he passed away," a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office explained yesterday, "and the levels were elevated but not real high, so it wasn't an overdose but we think it was a result of taking the cough medication with his sleeping problems."
Pimp C and his partner, Bun B, formed the hip-hop duo UGK, one of the defining crews in Southern rap. Pimp C was found dead on December 4 in a Los Angeles hotel room.
Promethazine/codeine was found in Pimp C's system at the time of his death. He also suffered from sleep apnea, which is characterised by blockage of the airways.
The autopsy report injects the tragedy with new pathos, as Pimp C often boasted of an affinity for codeine-based cough syrup - most pointedly in UGK's 2000 collaboration with Three Six Mafia, Sippin' On Some Syrup. It is a common recreational drug in the American chopped & screwed hip-hop scene.
Not long after Pimp C's death, it was announced that UGK had been nominated for a Grammy award for their work with OutKast on Int'l Players Anthem. It was a bittersweet moment for Bun B, who recalled his partner's long-standing ambitions. "15 years later," Bun B told MTV News, "a song I told him we should do and he was adamant about it - and he got his Grammy nomination, just like he always wanted."
The Grammy Awards will be held February 10.
