Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the

Southern rap Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, ...

duo

UGK UGK (short for Underground Kingz) was an American hip-hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, formed in 1987, by Mitchell "Big Mitch" Queen who would eventually leave the group to pursue a football career and Chad "Pimp C" Butler with Bernard "Bun B" ...

(Underground Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside

Pimp C Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and record producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as one half of the hip-hop duo Underground Kingz (UGK). ...

. Aside from his work with UGK, Bun B has released five solo albums, including 2010's ''

Trill OG ''Trill OG'' is the third studio album by American rapper Bun B. The album was released on August 3, 2010, by II Trill Enterprises, Rap-A-Lot Records and Fontana Distribution. On August 4, 2010, ''The Source'' magazine gave ''Trill OG'' its rare ...

'', which received the rare 5-mic rating from ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

''. He is also a guest lecturer at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, located in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Life and career

UGK

In the late 1980s,

started the rap duo

. He first released a demo tape titled "Underground King" which didn't feature Bun B on the track. Instead, it featured Pimp C's friend Mitchell Queen. Bun B and friend Jalon Jackson had their own group called P.A. Militia. Both groups joined forces and formed the group 4 Black Ministers. Queen and Jackson later left the group leaving Pimp C and Bun B so they decided to revert to UGK. The demo Pimp C recorded with Mitchell Queen, ''Underground King'', caught the attention of an independent label in

called Bigtyme Records. They then released an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

titled ''

The Southern Way This is the discography of UGK, an American hip-hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas. Albums Studio albums Compilation albums Extended plays Singles As lead artist As featured artist Guest appearances References External links UGK disc ...

''. The release of this record caught the attention of

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

. While recording their debut album, ''

Too Hard to Swallow ''Too Hard to Swallow'' is the debut studio album by American hip-hop duo UGK. It was released on November 10, 1992, by Jive Records. Track listing ;Sample credits * "Something Good" contains samples from " Tell Me Something Good" performed by ...

'', many of the songs had content too explicit for the album, so Bigtyme Records released an extended play titled ''

Banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

'' before the album was released, including all the songs that were too explicit for ''Too Hard to Swallow''. The song "Pocket Full of Stones" became the first UGK song to get major airplay throughout the United States. Their second album, ''

Super Tight ''Super Tight...'' is the second studio album by American hip-hop duo UGK. The album was released on August 30, 1994, by Jive Records. As of 2011, it has sold 375,000 copies. ''Super Tight...'' is notable for being the first UGK album to have ...

...'', followed in 1994. Their third album, ''

Ridin' Dirty ''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 ...

'', peaked at number 2 on the R&B Charts in 1996, and at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' 200. After releasing their fourth studio album, ''

Dirty Money Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...

'', Pimp C got sentenced to jail.

''Trill'' and beginning of solo career

When Bun B's

partner, the late Chad "Pimp C" Butler, entered a jail sentence on an aggravated gun assault charge in 2002, Bun B made guest appearances on numerous albums by other rappers and released a 2005

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

titled ''Legends''. Singles featuring a Bun B guest appearance included "They Don't Know" by

Paul Wall Paul Michael Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, or the Ice Man, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse, and has released several albums under the label and ...

, "Gimme That" by

Webbie Webster Gradney Jr. (born September 6, 1985) who performs under the mononym Webbie, is an American rapper. He has been signed to the independent Trill Entertainment label since 2003. In 2005 he came into the hip hop scene with "Gimme That" fe ...

and "I'm A G" by

Yung Joc Jasiel Amon Robinson (born September 20, 1980), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper known for his 2006 single " It's Goin' Down", which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Prior to its release, he sign ...

. Bun B also appeared in a documentary titled ''Screwed In Houston'' produced by VBS/''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' that details the history of the Houston rap scene. In October 2005, Bun B's debut solo album ''

Trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is a networking protocol for optimizing bandwidth and resilience in Ethernet networks, implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and ...

'' was released. Singles included "

Draped Up "Draped Up" is the first single from Bun B's solo debut album ''Trill''. It samples elements from the song "Pimp Tha Pen" by DJ Screw. It features an intro from Lil' Keke. The official remix is on the album and it features Lil' Keke, Slim Thug, Ch ...

", "

Git It "Git It" is the second single from Bun B's debut album ''Trill (album), Trill''. It features the Ying Yang Twins and is produced by Mr. Collipark. It peaked at number 22 on the U.S. rap chart. This song is also a remake of the song "Get It Girl ...

", and " Get Throwed". The album peaked at the number 6 spot on the American ''Billboard'' 200 chart and number 1 on the

Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart.

''II Trill''

After Pimp C died in 2007, Bun B returned to a solo career. In 2008, he released his second album, '' II Trill''. The first single was " That's Gangsta" featuring Jamaican American artist

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), known professionally as Sean Kingston, is an American former singer and rapper. Born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Jamaica, he signed with J. R. Rotem's record label Beluga Heights Records ...

. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, selling 98,000 copies. Other singles were "Damn I'm Cold" featuring

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and " You're Everything" featuring

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), known professionally as David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Banner gra ...

, DJ Corbett and

8Ball & MJG 8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Orange Mound, Memphis, Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee), Ridgeway Middle School in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut al ...

, the latter of which was dedicated to the late Pimp C.

''Trill OG''

Bun B's third album is ''

''. In an interview with MTV Live, Bun B stated that

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

was set to feature on the album, claiming "It's a brand new verse." The album was released under

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

on August 3, 2010.

''Trill OG: The Epilogue''

On October 28, 2011, a song titled "The Life" and produced by 14KT was leaked. On March 3, 2012, Bun B leaked a song featuring

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hi ...

and Redman titled "Stop Playin'" after he reached 400,000 followers on Twitter. He has not announced the song's appearance on his upcoming album His fourth studio album was rumored to be titled, ''Trill 4 Life'' and scheduled for a 2013 release. On August 22, 2013, Rap-A-Lot Records revealed that his Sony distributed fourth studio album will be released in October 2013. The album is to feature guest appearances from

and

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

. On October 4, 2013, the album was then officially announced to be titled '' Trill OG: The Epilogue'' and be released on November 12, 2013. The album was revealed to contain primarily leftover tracks from the ''Trill O.G.'' recording sessions. It was also confirmed to feature Pimp C, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross,

Lil Boosie Torence Ivy Hatch Jr. (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil' Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the Southern hip hop collective Concentr ...

Kirko Bangz Kirk Jerel Randle (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper, known for his 2011 single " Drank in My Cup", which peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received platinum certific ...

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was sign ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

, Z-Ro and Devin The Dude. Bun B announced "The Trillest Tour" in January 2014. On January 30, the Houston native revealed the tour dates, where he was accompanied by fellow Houston native

. The tour ran from March 6 until April 17, 2014.

Other ventures

Awards

On June 24, 2014, Bun B made a guest appearance to the Htown Beatdown concert hosted by local radio station Hot 95.7. He was awarded the 360 Legend Award for his successful music career and his impact on the local community.

Teaching

At the start of the Spring 2011 semester, Bun B joined the faculty of

as a Distinguished Lecturer. He taught a course in the School of the Humanities on

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

.Alexis, Nadeska, "Bun B to Teach Hip-Top and Religion Class at Rice University," 2010-06-22
Theboombox.com, accessed December 20, 2010. Into 2013 Bun B continues to teach the course twice a week.

Coloring book

On September 17, 2013, Freeman released a coloring book titled "''Bun B's Rap Coloring Book''" along with author

Shea Serrano Shea Serrano (born 1981) is an American author, journalist, humorist, and former teacher. He is best known for his work with the sports and pop culture websites, ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer'' and ''Grantland'', as well as his books, inclu ...

. Freeman and Serrano had previously talked about working together to make a book. At first they agreed on a "hip hop survival guide", but both agreed against the project. Later on, Serrano drew coloring pages of rappers that he posted on

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

. The pages quickly went viral. Freeman and Serrano then decided to make a whole coloring book.

Trill Burgers

Bun B opened up Trill Burgers located on South Shepherd and Richmond Avenue in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Personal life

Bun B has been married to Angela "Queenie" Wells since 2003 and has two stepchildren and seven step-grandchildren. His stepson is American rapper Young-B, who is a member of the rap group Youngest N Charge, which is Bun B's opening act. On April 24, 2019, Bun B shot an armed intruder who was attempting to rob his Houston home. The intruder fled on foot. The suspect, DeMonte Jackson, was taken into custody by Houston police after arriving at the hospital.

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2005) * '' II Trill'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * '' Trill OG: The Epilogue'' (2013) * '' Return of the Trill'' (2018) * ''Yokozuna Trill'' (2024) Collaborative albums * '' TrillStatik'' (with

Statik Selektah Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...

) (2019) * ''Mo Trill'' (with Cory Mo) (2022) * ''TrillStatik 2'' (with Statik Selektah) (2022) * ''TrillStatik 3'' (with Statik Selektah) (2023) * ''TrillStatik 4'' (with Statik Selektah) (2024)

Filmography

* ''Survival of the Illest'' (2004) * ''Dominos: The Games We Play'' (2006) * '' Ghetto Stories'' (2010) * ''Video Girl'' (2011) * '' Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap'' (2012) * ''Candy'' (2017) * '' Mo'' (2022) * ''Lotus Land'' (2023)

References

External links

*
Rap-A-Lot Records

Discography at discogs.com

Bun B RBMA lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bun B 1973 births African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Asylum Records artists Gangsta rappers Living people MTV Video Music Award winners People from Port Arthur, Texas Rap-A-Lot Records artists Rappers from Houston Rappers from Texas Rice University faculty 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians