In the United States, the album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and topped the Rap Albums charts, selling 77,000 copies in its first week.[1]
The album marks the first posthumously released album for the Underground Kingz member Pimp C, as the rapper was found dead in his room at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles on December 4, 2007.[2]
Background
In March 2008, Bun B confirmed the final UGK studio album would be dedicated to the late Pimp C.[3]
The first single "Da Game Been Good to Me" was released onto the Internet on January 16, 2009.[4] It was made available on iTunes on February 12, 2009.[5] Bun B stated he recorded a song dedicated to his late partner Pimp C.[3]
Bun B stated that he would not experiment with new collaborations or producers.[6]
This album is not about who I wanna work with and what kind of beats I wanna do, this album is about what the people wanna hear, and that's Bun and Pimp. And I wanna try to give that to them in the most purest sense."
UGK 4 Life was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on eleven reviews.[7]
Chase Hoffberger of The Austin Chronicle praised the album, calling it "one fantastic curtain call".[18] Jeff Weiss of Los Angeles Times called it "the rare swan song that manages to be essential for the music alone".[12] Steve Juon of RapReviews wrote: "from the 'Intro' to the 'Outro' there's very little to not like about UGK 4 Life other than the fact it can never be done again, and any music videos released off this album won't feature Pimp doin' his thang".[15] Jordan Sargent of PopMatters concluded: "the fact that this has been UGK's music for nearly two decades doesn't blunt the impact of the album, and so UGK 4 Life is comfort food for Southern rap heads: not as invigorating as the first time, but still the best all the same".[14] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork resumed: "though probably not the best UGK album, it might be the strongest illustration of what they do best".[13] Clayton Purdom of Cokemachineglow found the album "leaves listeners wondering where they might go next".[9] Thomas Golianopoulos of Spin called it "a fitting capper to this Texas duo's storied career--nothing groundbreaking, just funky, rough-hewn, celebratory tracks".[16]
