247HH’s cameras caught up with Underground King Bun B @ a recent in-store appearance @ St. Alfred’s in Chicago. In the clip, Bun breaks down what used to be the recording process, finding Read the rest of this entry »
I made my first visit to TSS because a friend of mine told me the site had the then brand-new song, “Get Throwed.”
When I wrote my first ever Hip-Hop article for a little blog at Davidson College (which I later submitted to Gotty™ while trying to join the Crew), I wrote about UGK and how genuine their music has always been to me. Not to belabor the point, but at the time, Pimp C had just been Read the rest of this entry »
After the underwhelming success received for his freshman album Already Platinum, Houston native Slim Thug decided to do his best to distance himself from the machine that pushed him away from his roots that was Interscope records. Since his 2005 debut, he has released two group albums along with his partners in rhyme, the Boss Hogg Outlawz, but otherwise we haven’t heard much from the low-toned Texan.
With his official return Boss Of All Bosses, the self-proclaimed “boss of the north” doesn’t take much of a step forward with his content or production, but what he does do is continue the legacy of the Houston Hip-Hop scene with a slightly different approach sonically than most of his peers. Songs like “Top Drop” which features the third coast’s favorite White boy Paul Wall and the UGK assisted “Leaning” fall in line with what fans are used to from the state of Texas. Read the rest of this entry »
If you ask any celebrity, they’d probably tell you that media day is nothing short of a royal pain. Dozens of interviewers calling to ask questions about an upcoming project, droning off repetitive inquiries. Bun B, one of the most down to earth rappers you’ll ever come across, seems unfazed even though he is answering questions about the death of his best friend.
When he sat down and talked to The Crew’s David D., Bun B was the same cool guy one would expect as he discussed promoting the new UGK album without Pimp C at his side, dropping guest verses and what’s the perfect song to honor the Underground Kingz.
TSS: Hey Bun B, what’s up man? How’s it going?
Bun B: I’m good, man.
TSS: Before I get to this UGK album you guys have coming out, I’ve wanted to ask you this for years if I ever had the pleasure of talking to you. Every time you’re on someone else’s track and you have a 16, you kill it. So how do you prepare for that?
Bun B: I don’t really, to be honest. I’m a weird studio creature. I just go to the studio, tell them to cut on a beat and I write. And then I go in. The process is usually complete in about 20-30 minutes. I don’t make it a long, dragged out type of situation. It’s really just a matter of organizing thoughts. And because of the fact I’ve been doing this so long continuously, it’s not a problem to organize thoughts at all. As far as information, I have more information than I have an outlet to release. Every time I do a song, I’m still 30-40 verses behind as far as information I want to get out. I know my way around a record. And I know exactly how to hit the points that maybe other people in the song haven’t hit. If they send me a beat and there aren’t any vocals on it, then I just try to hit points that I know people are going to reach for.
TSS: Is that the same way you prepare for your own albums too?
Bun B: No, it’s totally different because in terms of UGK albums, a lot of that stuff originated from ideas that Pimp and I might have. And I don’t have to come in until it’s fully visualized. Until the beat is all laid out and everything, then I let my verses drop. For a solo album, I have more control of the process. My solo album is just about getting the right music. Any verse you’ve ever heard Bun B say was probably written in about 15 minutes. That’s not just me talking. You can ask anyone. That’s why I’m on so many records, because of the turnaround.
People send me the record on Thursday and the it’s gotta be done by Friday, because they know I’m gonna get it, go in, do what I gotta do send it in go home and go to sleep. I’m not a studio rat that likes to sit in the studio for six hours, invite every fucking body I know, buy pizza, smoke weed, drink, hang out and then try to find a fucking club and don’t even go to the club because you’re too high and drunk from the studio. I don’t make a day out of it. I’m an old head. I’m 35 years old, I got a wife and kids. I got a granddaughter now. If I’m in the studio by 2, I’m trying to be out by 7. I can still get five or so songs done.
TSS: So you must have a huge catalog sitting around, right?
Bun B: Actually, I don’t. Everything I record is usually for something. As of right now I have no songs stowed away. A lot of people assume that because I’m always on everything. People literally call me- I have my beats and do like five features. Then I go to the studio and knock out all five and go home.
TSS: That way you were on everybody’s song was kind of like ahead of its time because now everybody — Lil’ Wayne or anybody that’s got an album coming out — they’re always doing a lot of guest spots. Was that a conscious effort for marketing or were you just trying to get on records?
Bun B: It’s a little bit of both. It’s definitely a way of making yourself available to several different markets at one time. Also, it gives you the chance as an artist to bounce yourself around the game with like minded talents to see where you stand. It’s important for artists to know where they stand. And for me, being an older artists where you have some younger fans who are like 17-18 years old who may not know my entire legacy or my full repertoire. It’s important for me to stand next to the people they look up to today and let them see that I’m as good or better than anything they’re listening to right now.
TSS: As far as the marketing goes, now, how has it been promoting this album by yourself?
Bun B: Weird. I try to think of some deep way. It’s just weird. It’s different. It’s not necessarily difficult because I’m doing interviews and phonies and shit like that. But it’s very weird to constantly talk about him being dead. I’m gonna be honest. Nobody says “dead.” I have to say it every now and then because nobody says “Pimp C is dead.” They say “he’s passed” or “now that he’s gone.” Nobody ever says “dead.” Sometimes I have to say that word for the reality to set in. That’s just for me personally, so I can get it out.
TSS: Has it at all been therapeutic at least? Read the rest of this entry »
Words by Khalid Strickland
The first time Bun B soldiered on without his UGK co-defendant Pimp C, fans of the revered Port Arthur, Texas duo didn’t fret. Bun capably held shit down as a solo artist and the faithful knew that the pair would be reunited once Pimp finished his prison bid. But only two years after Pimp came home from the bing, Bun B was on his own once again. However, this time there would be no reunion down the road. Chad Butler a.k.a. Pimp C passed away in his sleep on December 4th 2007 and the U.G.K. that we’ve come to know and love would never be the same again.
Before he returned to the essence, Pimp C recorded enough material for both his upcoming solo album and UGK 4 Life, the group’s last hurrah. UGK 4 Life is slated for release on March 31st but I recently attended a listening session for the album at the offices of Jive Records. The joints I heard Read the rest of this entry »
I was 10 when Pac and Big died.
Today, I understand how big these losses were. At the time though, I was relatively calm about the events.
But when Pimp C died a year ago to this day — that shit hit me like a ton of bricks.
Gotty™ said it best when describing why Pimp C is so beloved: Read the rest of this entry »
Okaaaaaaaay, we’re reloaded.
This week the whole crew lined up to look back at the past, set sights on the future, and take aim at the current potential threats. Read the rest of this entry »
I wouldn’t usually listen to a song that starts off with Akon saying “…bendin’ over, spreadin’ eagle, all that ass in my face…”
But, the Underground Kaaang’s “Hard As Hell” gets a pass.
With it’s light and innocent, guitar-infused R&Beat fused with Bun and Pimp trading honey-dipped verses, the lead single off the duo’s final album UGK 4 Life is dope enough where I’ll let myself get caught up in the cliche. Even if the Kon Man’s hook is eerily reminiscent of his work on Plies’ 2007 hit, “Hypnotized” (I might be mistaken, but hasn’t he pull this stunt before?). Read the rest of this entry »
Nothing tests my love for Hip-Hop like a long ass road trip.
There’s only so much I can take in a 16 hour drive before I start to detest any collection of rhyming words. I just threw the iPod on random and about 9 hours in, each song started to run together and my eyes got heavy even while I was reciting the words to “Ghost Deini” (proving that I can in fact recite rap to Supreme Clientele in my sleep).
Then I got my wake-up call. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite II Trill being Bun B’s second solo album, both have been Pimp C’s just as much as his own. 2005′s Trill was a vehicle to keep an incarcerated Pimp C on the mouths and minds of everyone within earshot as Bun carried the banner of U.G.K. and Port Arthur, Texas on his shoulders. Fast forward to 2008 and due to the untimely passing of Pimp C, II Trill is dually a Bun B solo album as well as an opportunity for other’s to stop by and pay their respects to the late Chad Butler. With the loss fresh on his mind, Bun put his nose to the grindstone as he lyrically keeps this album afloat overcoming too many guest appearances and questionable beat selections.
Starting out the gate strong with “That’s Gangsta,” Bun breaks down what it exactly means to be one for anyone unsure of the term. J.R. Rotem gives him a beat strong enough to match the intensity of his words as Sean Kingston provides a great hook performance as he prepares for the second act of his career. On “Damn I’m Cold,” Lil’ Wayne puts down the styrofoam cup long enough to give Bun an adequate sparring partner as the two go back and forth on coming up in the game. Bun connects with Lupe Fiasco on “Swang On ‘Em” to set the ground rules for visitors to the South. The marching band backdrop give the two emcees a versatile sound bed where they can both spit at a comfortable pace. Read the rest of this entry »
DJ_Warrior & Bun-B-Cali Untouchable Radio_pt.7
DJ_Obscene & Bun-B-Houston WeHave A Problem 3
DJ Ideal & Bun B – Da Bottom Vol. 4(OG RON C Mix)
Dutty Laundry-Hood Classic Legends_(hosted by Bun-B)
DJ_Dutty Laundry-The_Best_of_Bun-B
Chops & DJ Lt. Dan_And_Bun-B_Presents_Its_Going_Down_Vol._2
King James_Bun-B-King Of The Trill-2CD
Bun-B-Trill-(Swishahouse Remix)
Bun B-Side_Hustles_Vol.2
Bun B-Underground King
Bun B – Trill
Bun B – Side Hustles
Bun B & MDDL FNGZ Legends (Two Discs)
DJ Ideal & Bun B – Da Bottom Vol. 4
Let me tell you how this week was supposed to go.
It was supposed to be silky smooth. See, usually we’re only working a day ahead, but not this week. We had several interviews prepped & ready. We had the Ghostface material cocked & loaded, ready to rock. We even had a giveaway coming up with a clothing company for a UGK-inspired & endorsed t-shirt (postponed for now).
Boom, silky smooth. The week was laid the fuck out.
Then this morning’s news revealed that Spice 1 had been shot.
My thought process was “Ok, he lived. Cool, we can make a mention but stay with the program.”
Then word started trickling in that Pimp C had passed.
Shit.
Things happen & plans change unexpectedly. And all things have a beginning.
When I started thinking of ways to speak on both of these artists, one of the inescapable links that comes to mind is the Menace II Society soundtrack, where both had profound songs that defined the early 90′ss, a time marked by the full blown exposure to crack (“Pocketful Of Stones” by UGK), violence (“Trigger Gots No Heart” by Spice 1), society’s ills…and rap as a medium to open people’s eyes to the shit.
Fast forward to today and where we stand. I can easily say that I’m praying that Spice recouperates & lives to be an older, healthier wiser man.
For Pimp, I won’t waste time on condolences…because Pimp lived the life he chose. My condolences do go out to his family. But part of me wouldn’t feel right feeling “down” because of his death. With Bun B, they blazed trails in rap before Pimp ended up getting locked up. Pimp came home, & like Pimpin Ken said, he came home to money & all of life’s other lavish trappings. Like the old timers would say, “you can’t stop a stepper” and as a trill ass nigga, that’s what Pimp was – a goddamn stepper & a marcher to the beat of his own drum
And dear Lord, the brother came hell & raised an insane amount of hell, calling out any & all rappers. Sometimes the claims were outlandish, perhaps provoked by the Devil’s dandruff (see: the infamous Atlanta radio interview). Other times they were on point & a good dose of reality that some of these egotistical rap hacks needed (see: criticism of hip-hop’s glamorization of jail).
I’m actually envious of sorts & I’m not even frowning upon the alleged drug use. If I ain’t have to worry about such trifles as drug testing at the job, constant nasal issues, incessantly tapping my feet, and, of course, the financial circumstances, hell I’d prolly be treating myself with the Bolivian marching powder, grindin’ my teeth as I type this.
So, fuck’em, Pimp.
You did it your way. You made your share of mistakes & had your share of triumphs.
And you lived your life to the fullest.
Spice 1, stay up & get well soon.
Another coincidence is that we happened to have a set of Shots, all related by the letter “C”…so I think we’ll run with those as well.
Casual-Oaktown-Promo_CDS-2004
Ceelo_And_Jazze_Pha-Happy_Hour-(CDS)-2005
Channel_Live-Mad_Izm_(Original_Buckwild_Remix)_12_Inch-1995
Channel_Live-Mad_Izm_BW_Reprogram-VLS-2005
Charli_Baltimore_(Feat._Camron_and_Nore)-NBC-VLS-1999
Chi-Ali-Age_Aint_Nothing_But_a_Number-VLS-1992
Chi-Ali-Let_The_Horns_Blow_VLS-1992
Chi-Ali-Roadrunner_VLS-1992
Chingy-We_Got_(Nelly_Diss)-2005
Chino_XL-Poisen_Pen-(Bootleg)-2005
Chino_XL-Watch_Closer_BW_Royce_5_9_Enough_Beef-(Full_VLS)-2005
Choclair-Back_Where_Ive_Stayed-CDS-2003
Clipse_Feat_Pharrell-Stuntin_Yall-(Explicit_Promo_CDS)-2005
Clipse-Cot_Damn_(Remix)-Promo-CDS-2003
Clipse-Definition_of_A_Roller_(Promo_CDS)-2004
Clipse-Who_Shot_Ya_Freestyle_Promo-CDS-2004
CNN_Feat_Swiss_Beatz-Hood_Money_CDS-2003
CNN-Ayo-VINYL-2003
CNN-Cheers(Promo_Vls)-2003
Common_and_Kanye_West-Go_BW_Diamonds_Are_Forever-VLS-2005
Common_Ft_Scarface_And_Mos_Def-The_Corner_(Remix)_(CDS)-2005
Common-Go_(Full_VLS)-2005
Common-The_Food_(VLS)-2004
Coo_Coo_Cal-We_Got_That_Ft.Juvenile_BW_Lap_Dance-2005
Cormega_Feat_Large_Professor-The_Come_Up-(VLS)-2002
Cormega-Dangerous_bw_Personified_(Promo_CDS)-2004
Cormega-Let_It_Go_BW_A_Beautiful_Mind-(VLS)-2004
R.I.P. Pimp C
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