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This week SOHH chops it up with Bun B of UGK about his upcoming solo album and the Houston Hip-Hop scene he helped to build.
Pimp C and Bun B of UGK are the perennial underdogs, the greatest unsung heroes of Houston hip-hop. Throughout the 90's they held it down for H-Town, but label troubles and industry politics kept them from the fame and sales figures they deserved. In 2000 Jay-Z gave them a chance to shine on "Big Pimpin," but before they could build on that exposure Pimp C was sentenced to 8 years in prison for aggravated assault. Many men would fold after so many setbacks, but Bun B stayed firmly on the grind, keeping his voice heard with his side project the Mddl Fngz, and guest appearances with everyone from TI to Jim Jones. And now that Houston's next generation has taken the industry by storm, Bun B finally sees his hometown in the spotlight, and he tells SOHH he's ready to step up front and center.
SOHH: So what's going on right now in the world of Bun B?
Bun B: I'm putting together a solo album right now; it's called "Trill."
SOHH: And what can we expect to hear on that?
Bun B: Some trill ass sh!t, man! I'm working with Lil Jon, Mannie Fresh, Jazze Pha, David Banner, Cool and Dre, Mr. Lee, and my in-house production team. We're putting together a super star-studded team from the South, the best producers we got down here. People like Kanye West have also offered to work with me, but I'm just trying to make sure we make the South happy. I mean I definitely want to work with people like Kanye and Just Blaze. I want to get in the studio with them and see if we can do something that will still be faithful to the South, but also kinda give me a chance to stretch my rapping. Basically, with this album, I'm trying to keep cats going in the right direction because we've got a lot of shine in the South right now and we need to take full advantage.
SOHH:How does it feel to see Houston finally blowing up like it is now; after all the years you put into the game?
Bun B: It's a beautiful thing. I'm just happy that I was able to be here when it happened; to still be a valid artist who can take advantage of the situation. I think we all knew it would happen in time. The trip took a little longer than everybody expected but I think that's good because it gave artists down here a chance to sharpen up their business skills. The talent was always here, but as the game changes it's important to have that strong business sense. So all the time it took was good for us because since we didn't get a lot of notoriety and a lot of press in the South, all we had to fall back on was learning how to make the most out of the money we got. So, that's what we concentrated on. That's why now that we have the opportunity to shine, we're gonna reap all the benefits. I'm so proud to see all these H-Town rappers now like Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, my boys the Mddl Fngz, Chamillionaire. These cats are really going to do it.
SOHH: What advice do you give to these younger artists, so they can avoid the pitfalls UGK ran into?
Bun B: There is money to be made, good money, but only if you know the business beforehand. Just having a good record and being hot doesn't guarantee you money. If you don't know the business, you will not be paid what you're worth. And make sure you have a way to support yourself outside of this music stuff because it's a long road before you finally do get that check and signing bonus. There's a lot of cats trying to do it and it may not pay off tomorrow. So just make sure you set up other ways to support yourself and your family. Then along the way that'll give you a better sense of how to manage money anyway. So, when you do get that big check you'll know what to do with it.
SOHH: Do too many rappers make the mistake of buying up material things instead of investing?
Bun B: I know most cats did. I did. It depends how young you are and what you've done with money before. I'd had a little money before but not the kind we saw when we signed. So, of course, I made the wrong moves with it because I didn't have the right guidance. But at that time in rap, back in '92 or '93, nobody really knew what was going on. A lot of cats were still learning then. So, hopefully now I can teach cats through the mistakes that I made; because I'm not ashamed to say, ‘I fucked up here, I blew money there.' I was able to go back out there and get it, but a lot of cats may not get that second chance. So, it's best to be smart the first time around.
SOHH: What's the status of UGK's label situation with Jive?
Bun B: The group UGK is still signed to Jive and they say we have to give them one more album. So, we're just waiting for Pimp C to come home. Then hopefully we can just give them that and get on with business elsewhere.
SOHH: How is Pimp C holding up? How often do you have contact with him?
Bun B: I'm in contact with him as much as possible. In Texas you don't get a lot of phone calls. So, it's mostly through letters and what not. He comes up for parole later this year. He's keeping his head up, you know. He's done his time pretty good, but right now he is getting a little anxious. I mean not to where he would do anything crazy, but right now it's like, ‘Alright, it's time to get up out of here!'
SOHH: How have you kept your head up all this time --between the years of struggling with the label and then losing your partner?
Bun B: Well for one, I can't really sit around and feel sorry for myself because I'm on the street. Times get hard, sh!t gets rough for me and all, but at least I'm here on the street and there are things I can do about my situation. My man is locked up; so there's nothing he can really do except sit his time out. I do get down at times. I get tired; I get weary. But I gotta rep for my man, because I know he would do it for me.
SOHH: There's a lot of talk right now about the treatment of women in Hip-Hop, do you think rappers need to take more responsibility for that?
Bun B: Well I mean, women have been exploited by men since the beginning of time. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I'm just saying that's a fact. It didn't start with rap. We didn't start the objectification of women and it won't end with us. I think before you start talking about what happens to a young lady when she gets around a rapper, I think you need to start informing our young sisters more often a little earlier in life about sense of self. It takes a more than a song for a young lady to belittle herself. That goes with lack of self confidence, lack of home training; a lot of different elements come into play with that.
SOHH: What about all the beef in Hip-Hop these days? Why does it get so much more out of control than the battles from back in the day?
Bun B: Well you know, you used have more rappers than gangsters, but now you have more gangsters than rappers, somewhat. People try to tell you that's not true, but there's definitely that element in rap now that wasn't there before. Nowadays you can't just say something about somebody on a record. Somebody's gonna do something, so you have to be very cautious.
You know that men, men or women, people are always gonna have problems. I just think that with the age of the Internet and mixtapes people can be a little more vocal and immediate about their problems. I think pressure from the mixtapes and stuff has people feeling like they have to handle things a certain way. I'm sure the fans enjoy that and I'm sure some rappers do benefit, but I'm not sure how rap in general benefits. But that's not for me to know because I don't have rap beef.
SOHH: You've done a ton of guest appearances lately, on mixtapes and other people's records. What's the strategy behind that?
Bun B: It's not so much a strategy, just really trying to keep the name out. There's a certain amount of features that I would do anyway, but I'm probably doing two or three times as many to make up for all the features that Pimp C would be doing in different places, to spread the UGK [name]. I have to concentrate on making sure we have a buzz in the West, a buzz Down South, a buzz on the East and the Midwest --wherever we need to have something cracking.
SOHH: How do you keep enough rhymes ready to do that many appearances? Do you keep a book of rhymes ready or do you write each one on the spot?
Bun B: Nah, anybody who knows me knows I don't keep a tablet or anything. I hear the music and then I write right there on the spot. Something could happen to me on the way to the studio that may benefit the rhyme. So, I try not to have too many things written out in advance. I've been able to lead a life that's offered me a lot of experiences, so I've always got a lot of sh!t that I can talk about. Whatever the situation is, whatever the topic, I've been through it. It's just a matter of putting it in rhyme form.
SOHH: One of the illest collabos you did was with the UK emcee Dizzee Rascal. How did that happen?
Bun B: A friend of mine, Matt Sonzala, turned me onto him. I heard a couple of his tracks and it was a different sound, but he's a real emcee and I liked his flow. No matter what different styles the music has, if you're real about emceeing you will always recognize flow. Just like he's in London with the cockney slang and then he's Jamaican as well, but at the same time he was listening to my shit and he could feel the vibe. He could understand flow. So when we met we had a mutual respect for each other. We stayed in contact with phone calls and e-mails to make sure that we got together and got a track recorded without leaving it up to the record company or the management.
SOHH: Do you see similarities between Houston rap and that UK grime scene?
Bun B: Absolutely, I mean neither one has had outlets afforded for us to really get our shit out there. So, we've had to go out there and make things happen for ourselves. I think overseas they respect that about us in the South because they don't really have the outlets just like we didn't.
SOHH: When you do everything for yourself that keeps it raw and pure. Do you worry that Houston hip-hop might lose that purity as it gets pulled into the mainstream?
Bun B: As long as the people down here making the music keep their feet rooted in the streets and stay down with the hood, then we should be alright. It's only when you get exposure and start thinking you have to act a certain way, dress a certain way, or hang with certain people that sh!t gets messed up. So as long as everybody stays focused and represents the South the way they're supposed to, the way people like Scarface and myself and Eightball and MJG have been representing, then we should be fine.
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