Bun B, approaching two decades into his career, is one of hip hop's most incredible and talented emcees. Along with his late partner, Chad "Pimp C" Butler, their group, Underground Kingz (UGK), pioneered Southern rap and hip hop to become a dominant force in American music. Their sound consisted of funky rhythms, heavy bass lines, 808 crashes, Sunday morning organ loops and melodic keyboard lines. Their lyrics are composed of local Texas references, personal narratives and slang-oriented verses, primarily conceptualized by Bun, that present a raw intelligence from the duo's vivid observations and syrupy dialects.

Beginning with 1992's Too Hard to Swallow, UGK have seven classic albums to their credit: Super Tight (1994), Ridin' Dirty (1996), Dirty Money (2001), the compilation set Side Hustles (2002), the chart-topping double-disc Underground Kingz (2007) and UGK 4 Life (2009). UGK's crusade to integrate the Southern United States into hip hop pre-social networking and iTunes led to the success of contemporary acts such as OutKast, Young Jeezy, T.I., Lil' Wayne, Mike Jones, Slim Thug, Paul Wall and Chamillionaire among others.

Even after Pimp C's death in 2008, Bun kept the momentum going. He's collaborated and delivered impressive bars and cadences alongside Ludacris, Rick Ross, Beyonce, Webbie, Talib Kweli, Lil' Jon, Yung Joc, Usher, Gucci Mane, the Cool Kids, Wale, Jermaine Dupri, and the Ying Yang Twins among others. He's released three solo albums: Trill (2005); II Trill (2008) and, the most recent, Trill OG (2010), which is heralded as a classic hip hop album by The Source Magazine, one of the highest accolades for a distinguished canon of hip hop albums.

Bun is preparing to venture into the classroom – accepting at position at Houston's Rice University to teach Religion and Hip Hop. In the midst of touring and promoting his latest project, the hip hop icon is also a brand ambassador for Conjure Cognac (the spirit co-founded by Ludacris), a jeweler designing a limited-edition watch; a t-shirt and apparel designer and has even designed a keychain. In the midst of it all, Bun still wants to continue rapping.

Now an icon for a generation of contemporary hip hop, the Port Arthur, TX-born rapper and intellectual is blessed with a good life: a keen understanding of his fans, a stable family and an iconic career that most rap artists could only imagine. Bun sat down with Kmag in Atlanta, his "second home next to Houston" after a soundcheck before a Red Bull-sponsored freestyle competition, where he served as a judge and a guest performer.

He's exhausted but still delivers the good and speaks candidly about Trill OG, what artists should consider in the age of social media; his criteria for a classic album; and people who criticize Texas-based (as well as Southern hip hop) artists.

...on Bun B
"Bun B is a Trill OG. He's the cat from the 'hood that's posted up on the corner that's kinda like the problem solver. You know what I'm sayin'? Like, I'm the guy that when things ain't goin' right at home, you call me. I give you that good advice. You got things goin' on in the street, I show you how to work those situations out. When you got a problem that you can't solve, then I come in and show you how to rectify that issue. But everybody needs an OG in their life. Everybody needs somebody they can go to for advice: that they can go to in any situation. I had OGs there for me, and now I'm just tryin' to be the OG for them."

...on his skills
"I think that's just a personal character trait. I just think some people are bred by, someone who may be as good as or even better than them. But for me, if I feel like somebody is good as me, then maybe they have as much to offer to me as I do to them. If I feel they better than me, then they definitely have something to offer me. I look to learn from people. I don't look to learn just about people. I look to learn from people. That's part of the human experience. And once you start puttin' up walls to people, you know regardless of circumstances, then you start to cut yourself out of that collective human experience. That, to me, is real social networking. It's not 'tweetin'; it's not Facebook."

 

 

...on classic albums
"It s about makin' music that's not tied into today. Just like I can make a song today about what's goin' on today, but I don't have to speak exactly about the situation. The more general you can make and situate the situation, the broader the scope of the song and the broader the audience that you'll reach. You make a classic album, you make an album that speaks to people in all walks of life, all colours of skin, and all cultures across the planet. You talk about real life situations that real people deal with on a daily basis. A five-mic album don't consist of a lot of club records. Five-mic records don't consist of a lot of records that talk about what you got and what you drive: how big your house is. Five mic albums are the kind of albums that when you're home by yourself at night that's what you listen to. A classic album is something that makes just as much sense to you sober as it does when you're fucked up. It's gotta make just as much sense in a good mood as you are in a bad mood. Gotta make just as much sense to you goin' to the club as it does goin' to church. That's what a classic album is all about!"

...on the power of social networking (word-of-mouth as well as social media)
"It's really about the interaction with the people. You've never really been able to interact with fans on this kind of level before. It's really one step away from them having your phone number and callin' you and asking you questions. It's exacting and almost in real time. They'll definitely tell you what they like. They'll tell you what they don't like. You got that kinda, you know, that built in judgment right there. Also, you know they let you know when you get it right, too. And at the same time, it's something – it's almost unavoidable, but at the same time, you have to be careful what you use it for. Because it's some people on there, you know, life is not dictated by business or focus and all of that. They just on there doin' whatever they feel like doin'. So if you're on there, focus. You gotta make sure that you separate yourself from those people. You know it gives people an opportunity to hate on you in front of you without being in front of you. It gives them a chance to say things to you that they would never say to you, you know?"

 

 

...on his loyalty to UGK and Pimp C's legacy
"Oh, [Pimp] is still the litmus test for what we do. Like everytime we make music or we make songs, we put it up next to something that Pimp C did. You know, when we play a beat, it's gotta feel like a Pimp C beat. If we come up with a hook to a song, it's gotta get you movin' like a Pimp C hook. When we touch on subject matters, we gotta make sure we keep it 100% trill just like Pimp C did. He's still the overseer and executive producer of all of these albums and all of these songs. And we still have to go through Pimp to be honest in order to make it."

...on critics and gettin' props
"I don't wanna start too much for arguing. I don't wanna start arguing over other people's music. I just argue over mine. I feel UGK's album Ridin' Dirty is a classic, but I do also feel that it was probably a little bit ahead of its time. That's why I've never been really upset with UGK never winnin' certain awards or gettin' certain accolades 'cause I knew a lot of people didn't understand what we were doin'. We were really talkin' about things that people weren't ready to address. We talked about the harsh realities of life, and people were still in party mode. So we knew we weren't really gonna be grabbin' and gravitatin' towards that. At the end of the day, when I walk out, people are like 'Yo, I got your album. I like it. Y'all tight!' It's really all I can ask for. If the consumers love it, you know, then the hell with a critic."

 

 

...on religion and hip hop culture
"There are many different types of emcees – in hip hop, you got Christian emcees – basic Baptists, Lutheran, Methodists what have you. You also have Catholic emcees; you got Jewish emcees. You got emcees that either don't subscribe to any form of religion or subscribe to an offset religion. But in hip hop, we have Orthodox Muslims and Five Percenters. We're gonna speak to what the struggle is with maintaining the doctrine of one's religion, you know, as opposed to keepin' it real as an emcee. And it's definitely an internal struggle that a lot of emcees have to deal with on a daily basis. I think it's a side of hip hop that's not talked about. That's the kind of exploration that we want to offer the students who choose to take the course."

...on becoming a professor
"You know, really the whole point of doin' it is to build a different type of syllabus and lesson plan, you know: tryin' a different means of communication to the students and the forum of education. If it is something that works and catches on, it's not so much about me teaching it. We would love to get this kind and show this off to other professors. Hopefully to see it work on a collegiate level and maybe it teetering down to high school, you know, middle, and elementary. I'm still kinda happy with my day job. So I'm not in a position to switch careers just yet. Let's say rapping is over and done for me maybe 15 or 20 years from now, then it's something I can maybe have potentially to fall back on. But right now, it's a little too soon to call."

 

 

...on what young and new hip hop artists should consider
1. "If you nervous, throw up before you get out here. That's it. You know, nothing's wrong with being nervous. Nothing wrong with being ill-prepared. Don't stumble over your words, and you should be alright. Just keep rapping."
2. "They just need to connect with the people. People always worry about record deals, 106 and Park, and all that shit – that ain't got shit to do with shit. If you don't make music that the people like, then it don't matter if an A&R like it or a CEO like it or a DJ like it. It don't matter. If people don't like it, you not goin' nowhere. You don't need nobody to help break you in this game nowadays with YouTube and all of this different shit. You give your music directly to the people, and they will put you on top. As long as you sittin' around thinkin' that you need somebody, that's just more and more time that you throwin' away."
3. "It's all about braggin' rights. You know what I'm sayin'? Some of us will probably sell more records than others. Some of us will probably be more notarized – you know will be known a little more than others. At the end of the day, it's all about the best emcee. It's always been about who has the best skills. And you gotta be able to take so-called 'skills' and put 'em to the test. I mean, it's definitely something that no matter what kind of music you do, you gonna have to deal with it at some point in time. It just comes with being an emcee. And battlin' has always been a part of that. You can't call yourself an emcee if you not ready to go toe-to-toe at somebody. This is really just keepin' it in mind for the next generation. You know it's easy to get on TV and get on the internet – easy to get status. It maybe even easier to get a title, but you know you have to work to keep it."

...on Southern hip hop gettin' respect
"For one, there is a difference between Southern hip hop and Southern rap music. With that being said, I've been in New York, and I've met people that love every kind of music. What I think is happening is Southern music, whether it be Southern hip hop, R&B or whatever it is, is gettin' presented better. We never really had ourselves presented in a proper light. We never really had the media set up. We never really had the TV look. Never really had the radio correlation, so now we have all of the different aspects that, you know, one uses to help promote it further themselves at our advantage and at our disposal. And we're able to put everything together at the right place at the right time and make things work. And that's why it just seems like, you know, this is a big takeover. The opportunity was there; we just never had a chance to take it. And once we did, we were all prepared."

 

 

...on being a hip hop icon
"I'm just happy to be a contributing factor. You got a lot of cats that come in and out this game that really don't do anything to this game. They didn't say anything. They didn't inspire anybody. They didn't create a movement that helped, you know, to help somebody. They didn't do anything. All they did was try to take as much from this culture as they could. So I'm just happy that I actually gave something instead of just takin' it. That's all you can ask for."

...on those who hate on Southern hip hop
"Fuck 'em. I couldn't say it any better – really."

 

Words: C. Daniel

 

• Bun B

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