After four years in prison, Houston rap legend PIMP C speaks about his time behind bars, his UGK partner Bun B, and his priorities in life.

As told to Justin Monroe; Photo: Jack Thompson I didn't feel anger initially [at getting locked up for missing community service after an assault conviction], but over the course of time, I went through every emotion that anyone could go through. I was mad and bitter at the state of Texas for a while...

But a year in, I let go of it. I realized the most selfish thing you could do for yourself is forgive someone.

People think that going to prison is a badge of honor, that it makes you seem like you hard...

But they obviously never been to prison. When you go to prison, you lose.

Bun is the type of dude, he wants to take responsibility when things go wrong, and he don't want to take credit when shit goes right. He feels like he's my older brother and he's supposed to protect me and save me...

But reality is, I'm a man. I made choices in life, to be a hot motherfucker out in these streets, and I suffered the consequences.

After being locked up, I saw Houston blow up, and all these new rappers making pop records out of sampled hooks from screw tapes, the shit we used to make...

But I wasn't upset at all, because I know we brought something relevant to the game. These youngsters talk about us like we used to talk about Run-DMC.

For a long time I was isolated from my fan base. I didn't realize how much support these people had for me as a person, and for me as an artist...

But I had fans that wrote me the whole time I was gone. Some days, those letters are what pulled me through.

The songs I've been doing since I got home are mostly guest appearances, I've just been writing on the spot...

But I got like 3,000 songs and ideas from when I was locked up. All that is cocked and ready for the Pimp C solo album and the upcoming UGK album.

It was all about me for a lot of years. I was selfish, arrogant, everything bad that a young rapper can be...

But these are my priorities now: creator, family, and business, in that order.

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