Bun B

Real Name: Bernard Freeman
D.O.B.: March 19th, 1973 Port Arthur, Texas

Label: Trill Entertainment/Rap-A-Lot, U.G.K.

Bernard Freeman (born March 19, 1973), better known by his stage name Bun B, is a rapper and one half (with the late Pimp C) of Southern hip hop act UGK from Port Arthur, Texas. He now resides in Pearland, but works in Houston where he is a member of Rap-A-Lot Records, an underground hip hop record label. He is also co-owner of Trill Entertainment with the late Pimp C.

Bun B's first major appearances was on Jay Z's song Big Pimpin' with Pimp C & Three 6 Mafia's Sippin' on Some Syrup, together known as UGK, then with Houston's emergence as a hip hop hotbed in 2005, Bun made guest appearances on numerous albums by Houston rappers as well as other artists throughout the South. Among his more notable collaborations are "3 Kings" by Slim Thug (also featuring T.I.), "They Don't Know" by Paul Wall (also featuring Mike Jones), "Gimme That" by Webbie, and "23-Hr. Lockdown" by the Ying Yang Twins, a song dedicated to Pimp C and other songs such as "Hold Up" featuring Chamillionare and Stat Quo and also "Stay In Ya Place" featuring Pitbull. While the majority of his collaborations have been with relatively popular, mainstream Southern artists, Bun has also worked with little-known and maverick Southerners such as Little Brother and Trae. He also made his mark on albums from other regions including Lil' Kim's The Naked Truth ("We Don't Give a Fuck") and Beanie Sigel's acclaimed The B. Coming ("Purple Rain")and also da bottom volume four.

Bun B and Pimp C formed UGK in the late '80s when their former crew, Four Black Ministers, fell apart. Based in Port Arthur, Texas, UGK independently released their début album, The Southern Way, on cassette in 1988. They signed with Jive Records and with 1992's Too Hard to Swallow began a series of Southern gangsta rap albums that were successful regional sellers. Bun B formed the side project Mddl Fngz in 2000, but UGK has always been his main concern. Notably, the Mddl Fngz were featured in the AND 1 Streetball video game with the track "Hard In the Paint".

Bun B is known for his friendships with and connections to most of the biggest and most respected names in Southern rap. He was featured in "Houston Mic Pass", an advertisement sponsored by Pepsi and Yahoo!, with Lil' Flip, Chamillionaire, Trae, Chingo Bling, Short Dawg, H.A.W.K, Magno and Mike-D.

Studio Albums

In 2005, Bun B released his first studio album, Trill. It is said that Bun released the album to keep the UGK name alive while Pimp C was in prison. It debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 and went Gold. As of late the album has had four singles: "Draped Up" featuring Lil' Keke, the "Draped Up Remix" featuring Slim Thug, Lil' Keke, Chamillionaire, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Aztek, Z-Ro & Lil' Flip. The most recent singles are "Git It" with The Ying Yang Twins and a remix of "Get Throwed" which featured, Pimp C, Young Jeezy and Z-Ro, the original version had Jay-Z doing verse 4, but in the video Bun B and Pimp C split the last verse. People speculate that either the budget wasn't big enough to get Jay-Z for the video, or Jay was not featured to show the re-emergence of UGK. There is a Chopped & Screwed album version done by Michael 5000 Watts.

II Trill is the second solo studio album by UGK member Bun B. It is the follow-up to his highly successful début album Trill. It was mentioned that after the death of his life-long friend and companion Pimp C, due in part to an accidental overdose, he as likely to "ban the syrup talk on his new CD." The album was originally set to be released on April 29, 2008 but was pushed back to May 20. The album will feature lyrics pertaining to political and social issues, as well as a tribute track to Pimp C.

Some of the artists set to appear on the album include: Sean Kingston, Pimp C, Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne, David Banner, Rick Ross, Mýa, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Webbie, Mike Jones, 8Ball & MJG, Z-Ro, Junior Reid, and Expensive Taste (consisting Paul Wall, Travis Barker, and Skinhead Rob).

The first single "That's Gangsta," featuring Sean Kingston and produced by J. R. Rotem, was released on February 19, 2008.

Discography

• 2005 Trill (Chart position: 6) RIAA: Gold
• 2008 II Trill (unreleased)

•