Going "Off The Record with the Return of the Trill [Album Review]

Welcome to Off The Record! A Fresh Weekly Album Review segment brought to you by @stickykeys!

15th Edition

September 4th 2018

Bun B

"Return of the Trill"

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The first time I heard of Bun B was when he (as UGK, whom I had heard of) was featured on Grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal's 2007 track 'Where Da G's'. The Grime bass line and the lyrics making fun of fake gangster rappers in both British and American accents totally drew me into it, I was hooked for about a month! I still play this track when I DJ at times. What I never realized was how long he had been in the scene. I learn a lot through these reviews! Anyways, let's get into it, I'm ready to learn more!

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Bernard Freeman was born on March 19, 1973 in Port Arthur (P.A.), Texas. He is better known as Bun B. In the late 80's rapper Chad 'Pimp C' Butler started the duo UGK (Underground Kingz), but it didn't initially include Bun B in the group. They released their demo titled 'Undeground King' The other member in the duo was Pimp C's friend Mitchell Queen. Bun B and his friend Jalon Jackson had their own group called P.A. Militia. Both those groups would come together to form 4 Black Ministers. Both Queen and Jackson left the group, so Pimp C and Bun B would continue as UGK.

The demo that Pimp C and Queen recorded eventually caught the attention of local independent label, Bigtyme Records, and they then released an extended play of the demo, titled 'The Southern Way'. This album then caught the attention of Jive Records. They would release their debut album (after their initial demo was deemed too vulgar), 'Too Hard to Swallow'. The song 'Pocket Full of Stones' became the first song from UGK to get major airplay in the United States. After the release of their fourth album, 'Dirty Money' in 2002, Pimp C got incarcerated for a gun assault charge.

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Thus, as you probably guessed, Bun B went solo. In 2005 he released 'Trill' (all of his albums from then on would have the word Trill in it), which peaked on the American Billboard chart at number 6 and number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Pimp C died in a hotel room in 2007 from unknown causes, and Bun B continued making solo albums.

'Return of the Trill' is Bun B's fifth album, among a bunch of mixtapes in between. It released today, as I am writing this on August 31st, 2018. It has fourteen tracks, a runtime of fifty-six minutes. Every track has an average time of four minutes long, the shortest being 3:03. Feature artists include Killa Kyleon, T,I., Big K.R.I.T., Slim Thug, Lil Keke, Yo Gotti, 2 Chainz, Gary Clark Jr., Lil Wayne, Run the Jewels, Beatking, Giggs, 8Ball, MJG, Leon Bridges, and his former partner Pimp C. By this list of rappers and singers, you can tell what a respected artists Bun B is.

Bun B Feat. T.I. & Big K.R.I.T. 'Recognize' music video

Of all the 'hard sounding' albums I've reviewed so far, this has been the most fun. He has proven that although he can talk about serious topics such as his hometown being in decline economically or the pharmaceutical industry, he can use his word play or cadence and tone of his voice plus the more upbeat beats to make a more interesting album as a whole. It doesn't sound preachy at all. Kudos for using risky mumble rappers and making use of their real potential! Give this album a listen, you won't be disappointed!

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Stay tuned for the next edition and be sure to follow me at @stickykeys! Also if there are any albums you would like me to review, drop a comment below.