MUSIC REVIEWS
Bun B - Trill
David Allun Jones
UGK stand in the category of your favorite rappers’ favorite rappers; you know the ones that are heavily recited as people’s favorites but never receive the same amount of commercial respect as they do critical. Beyond a brief taste of pop attention by way of Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin’”, the duo are relatively unknown, but for those in the know, UGK have made some of the slickest brand of Southern gangsta rap since the early 90’s. With his partner Pimp C twiddling his thumbs behind bars, Bun B has made it his duty to keep UGK alive through stand out mix tape work, guest appearances on nearly every rap release (major or minor) to hit stores in 2005 and one of the year’s most inescapable ad-libs (“Free Pimp C”).
On his major label solo debut, Trill, Bun endorses big Southern beats and A-list cameos laced with rhymes that reflect his favorite themes: smokin’, hustlin’ and ballin’. In other words, it’s everything you would expect, a slight disappointment when you take into account how scene stealing his cameos have been thus far. But if not entirely innovative it’s no less entertaining thanks to an army of big named contributors. Scarface and Young Jeezy offer more drug dealing tales on the soul-enhanced “Pushin’” while Jeezy, Jay Z and Pimp C “Get Throwed” over a hot Mr. Lee production. Elsewhere, other crowded all-star tracks “Who Need A B” (with Juvenile and Too Short) and “Hold U Down” (featuring Trey Songz, Mike Jones and Baby) bring together today’s hip hop stalwarts atop memorable beats .
Packed with so many big names, the downside is there’s little room for the focus to be on Bun B, keeping enlightening moments like “The Story” (a brilliant summary of the ups and downs of UGK’s career path) to a minimum. It also would’ve been nice to build off of the strange descent into rock territory heard on the crunk-meets-metal clash of Lil’ Jon’s “Trill Recognize Trill” and “Late Night Creepin’”, produced by and featuring Blink 182’s drummer Travis Barker. Both records surprisingly make fitting homes for Bun B’s fiery delivery and would make for a perfect concept for a future career side project.
Take out a few uninspired missteps produced by the increasingly annoying Mannie Fresh and Jazze Pha and the odd collabo with the Ying Yang Twins and Trill would be a solid joint beginning to end. It’s not too revolutionary in any way but it far outshines recent work from his more hyped contemporaries.
