Ridin' Dirty is the third
studio album by American hip hop duo
UGK. It was released on July 30, 1996, by
Jive Records. Despite no music videos or official singles being released, it is their best selling album with over 850,000 copies sold to date, with 70,000 copies sold in its first week.
After receiving little attention from national critics upon its release, the album received widespread critical acclaim. Tom Breihan of Stereogum writes that as a producer, Pimp C "absorbed lessons from
West Coast producers like
Dr. Dre and
DJ Quik, putting their cinematic musicality to work."[4]
Influence
The album became one of the most influential albums in
Southern hip hop, especially the Houston hip hop scene. Prior to his murder in 1996,
West Coast rapper
Tupac Shakur listened to the album after being introduced to the group by Houston rapper
Scarface. Shakur would go on to praise the album.[5]