Maybe if Bun B was my prof in college, I would’ve paid more attention. He’s a gripping writer and speaker who’s fearless in expressing his thoughts and opinions. And in a year like 2020, it was necessary to have someone as level-headed and outspoken as Bun B to call a spade a spade.
A man of the people, the second uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement and the devastating effects of COVID-19, Bun B has kept his head above water and helped others do the same, specifically within Houston. He’s a global ambassador for the city but these days, he seems fit to run for office, whether it’s for City Council or the Mayor of Houston. And that might be the case. After an illustrious career that includes two Grammy nominations, a solo albums, and an everlasting impact on the rap game, it might not be that far fetched to see Bun step into the political sphere.
“It's something that, at this point, I have to consider because there's so many people that are talking to me about it,” he told HNHH. “Our Mayor Sylvester Turner is a great man. I think he's done great things in the city. This is his last term, though. So if there isn't someone that he's going to recommend to replace him, and throw his support behind, if there's going to be someone that we don't feel has the city's best interest, then it's something I got to have to consider.” Unfortunately, if that were to happen, Bun would be hanging up the microphone for good which he doesn't necessarily see himself doing anytime soon.
For day two of HNHH’s 12 Days Of Christmas interview series, Bun B blessed us with an in-depth conversation exploring everything from the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, the election and Lil Wayne’s endorsement of Trump to tutoring Pimp C outside of a dope house and his relationship with Megan Thee Stallion.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Please note, this interview was conducted during a two-day period.
DAY ONE OF HNHH INTERVIEW WITH BUN B
What's fulfilled Bun B during the pandemic?
Really, just, you know, self-reflection like I spent the majority of my career traveling like being on the road and so I was very seldom home. My wife is an amazing home caretaker and she worked very hard to give us a house that’s extremely comfortable. The problem is I was almost never home to enjoy it. So, it’s been amazing to just really be here with moments of self-reflection and just relaxing, finding peace. We always cook. We spend a lot of shared time cooking here. We just got a new grill from Traeger and so that’s gonna be basically what we’re gonna do from here on out. Just try to find different things that we can put on the grill.
But, I think for the most part music, right? Like music has been a big part of how everybody’s been dealing with this. Thank God for people like D-Nice, 9th Wonder, Statik Selektah. Like, the DJ’s who have been working overtime to entertain the people and share their love of music with us. It’s made for some really fun nights. Even I took up DJing for a while with Club Trill. But, music for the most part has been a medium that many of us have been using to fill time, put ourselves at ease and just kinda relax and reflect on everything.
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What has stood out musically this year?
For me, it’s been a couple of things. I can’t believe it took me this long, but I found Khruangbin this year. And just really going through their catalog and all their live performances and kinda following their trek has been amazing. They’re an amazing band. A three piece band for those of you that don’t know, Laura, Mark, and Beans from Beans and Cornbread. I mean, it’s really hard for me to classify the music, but it’s really good. It’s really soothing. It’s peaceful. It’s perfect background music. It doesn’t really get in the way or interfere with anything so that’s been a big addition to me as far as my music playlist and what not.
It’s been fun watching Griselda take off over the last year and watch them find their own individual spaces as well as the group aesthetic. It’s been amazing to really watch what they’ve been able to accomplish this year in music.
"I am really tuned in with G-Herbo. I love the way he approaches it. He is everything that young artists are but he’s a little different though. He’s a little bit different in his approach and I like that. I like that a lot."
G-Herbo, right? I am really tuned in with G-Herbo. I love the way he approaches it. He is everything that young artists are but he’s a little different though. He’s a little bit different in his approach and I like that. I like that a lot.
My guilty pleasure this year has been -- the one song that I find myself kinda just going to every now and then for no reason has been King Chip “Interior Crocodile Alligator” which is super short. Not even a really long song, but I love it. I really love the song. But it’s been a really good year for music for me. I’ve been enjoying the output by a lot of people obviously Lil Baby had a great year in spite of things. DaBaby had a good year in spite of his public trauma. Right now, obviously at my house, because we’re both Megan Thee Stallion fans, that’s kinda where we are right now with Good News. You know, I just try to keep my ear to the street with a lot of the different stuff that’s going right now.
How do you feel about the next generation of Houston rap?
Yeah I know it has been a great year for Houston. Obviously, Travis is always on the forefront of stuff. Don Toliver had some really good momentum going with him, coming off the Jack Boys album into his own solo album. I really hate that with COVID, he didn’t get to go on the road ‘cause he was going to be the opening act for The Weeknd this year which would’ve been an amazing opportunity for him as an artist to really travel the world and be put on that kind of stage. ‘Cause, obviously, The Weeknd is one of the biggest artists in the world. So, opening up for an act like that can put you right in front of the people that you need to be in front of in order to grow your fan base and grow your movement.
Favorite song off of Good News?
But I think for me, “Shots Fired” probably is the song because diss tracks are prevalent in hip-hop, right? Diss tracks -- you know, dudes dissing dudes and girls dissing girls. I can't remember many instances outside of “Roxanne's Revenge” where the girl is dissing dudes on a rap record. Like you don’t really see that that often nowadays. But yeah, I mean, that was a hell of a way to start an album off. I'll be honest, it's a hell of a way to start the album.
"[Megan] wears the risky outfits, and all of that kind of stuff. I get it. But outside of all of that, you can't really question Megan's lyrical ability. You know, so I think she did a good job. She does a good job in songwriting, overall. She has her flow. She's locked in with her flow, but she also has her subject matter. And she's locked in with that. And she's found a way to make both of them work; to be sexy and lyrical at the same time. It's amazing."
How do you think she did at flipping the "Who Shot Ya?" sample?
I think it's amazing, first of all, that a new young female artist has the frame of reference to go back and reach on through hip hop to grab these monumental moments. Like, “Boyz N The Hood” is a big moment in hip hop, right? That's where we really start to understand exactly what the streets of LA are all about, if you don't go to LA or you don't have family or friends in LA. So, it gives you a very good idea of what's happening on the West Coast. And then obviously, “Who Shot Ya” is one of the pivotal moments in hip hop history from one of our top three best lyricists ever. It's very ambitious to make a song like that to kind of go with that. But I feel like she did good enough, right? I feel like the level of expectation for her on that record is kind of on par for the course. Certain artists would be held to a higher regard, if they touch those records. But I think for what she was trying to do, she really was trying to, not necessarily replicate the record, but give you an idea of where she's going with the content. So, as soon as you hear that song, you already know what we're about to do. And the title is there itself. But I think she did a good job. I think, you know, Megan's a rapper. Like, Megan does all the dancing. She wears the risky outfits, and all of that kind of stuff. I get it. But outside of all of that, you can't really question Megan's lyrical ability. You know, so I think she did a good job. She does a good job in songwriting, overall. She has her flow. She's locked in with her flow, but she also has her subject matter. And she's locked in with that. And she's found a way to make both of them work; to be sexy and lyrical at the same time. It's amazing.
Texas was hit hard with COVID. What has been your role in the city to raise awareness of the disease and protect people?
I’ve just been trying to lead by example. You don't want to get out there and tell people to protect themselves from the virus and be smart about how they move and then people see you in compromised positions. So, you got to really practice what you preach in these moments. But I try to also keep the base of people that I have influence with updates about the numbers, about the severity, positivity rates, mortality rates, all that kind of stuff, in real-time.
And people know that when I speak about something I care about, I'm not just saying that to say it. Just to be part of a movement or whatever. Like, I've never embraced the whole 5G thing. I don't get into these little conspiracies or whatever. I try to give people facts. And if people don't want to accept it, that's on them. I'm trying to make sure, as an OG out here, that I'm saying and doing what needs to be said and done in these moments.
And people can either embrace it or reject it. It's really on them. But I feel like, a lot of people, at some point, put their own selfish wants before everything else. I understand there's a lot of people who've had to go through COVID by themselves at home. And it's nerve-racking. Because that's not what their life was at all. Their life was built around socializing and communing with people in public places. And that's a very human thing. I'm not saying they're different from people. But I mean, you look at certain people, and they're literally in this very small apartment, right? There are maybe the third or fourth floor. In New York, it could be the 10th 12th floor. They don't have a balcony. So like, even me, for example, like even though we can't -- when COVID first started, you couldn't really leave the house. I have a front yard. I have a backyard with a porch so we can go and sit out and relax or listen to music or cook food like we've been doing lately. So I'm not necessarily inside separated from people. But there are a lot of people whose lives consist of that. Of them basically being stuck in their apartment, right? And they can't go out and see the people they want to see and go to the places they want to go. Eat the food they want to eat. Dance. And for some people, that's a priority in their lives, right? And so they're willing to go out and chance it for that opportunity.
For other people -- this is where I talk about there's a lot of violence that's happening right now because people are frustrated. People don't have money. They don't there's no opportunities for people. You already have the basic criminal element that already exists. But now, you have people who are determined to provide for themselves and their families no matter what. So they're taking penitentiary chances they wouldn't normally take. Trying to rob somebody in the spur of the moment. There's been a lot of that lately. People seeing an opportunity to take something from someone, and it's not necessarily their thing, but they don't have. So they're going to do what they need to do to get what they need for themselves and the people they love.
We're in the holiday season right now, which is always a very real time of year. Like, there's a lot of purse snatching and robbing people at cars and stuff like that. And taking bags out of backseats because there's a lot of people that shop from store to store. So, they'll go to one store, they'll buy this, then they'll go to another store, they'll buy that. And so people will see the leaving one store, follow them to the next door, as soon as they leave the car and go in and take what they bought from the previous store.
"You look at Chicago and young people in Chicago, they're being shot at and murdered at a high rate. For them, if you tried to tell them to avoid COVID, like a virus or flu, they’re like, 'Man, I'm trying to avoid the ops.' You know what I’m saying? I'm trying to avoid people spinning the block. So it's like, 'What am I really going to be afraid of? This thing that I may catch. That even if I do catch, maybe I even get it asymptomatically? I don't even get sick from it? Or do I avoid this real physical threat that's apparent, that I know is there.'"
And so it's just a very serious time in America, right now. And so you want to keep people aware of that kind of stuff, as well. But people are more concerned with the threat that they could see and they can feel than one that they can't see or feel. So, you look at Chicago and young people in Chicago, they're being shot at and murdered at a high rate. For them, if you tried to tell them to avoid COVID, like a virus or flu, they’re like, “Man, I'm trying to avoid the ops.” You know what I’m saying? I'm trying to avoid people spinning the block. So it's like, “What am I really going to be afraid of? This thing that I may catch. That even if I do catch, maybe I even get it asymptomatically? I don't even get sick from it? Or do I avoid this real physical threat that's apparent, that I know is there.”
And so there's a balance that people are going through between what they feel they want, and what they feel they need in this time. And so I try to impress upon people what the reality is about this situation but if people have active physical threats against them, I mean, they're going to do what they need to do in the moment. And if that means going outside, in a pandemic, because they don't want to just be like a sitting target or something. There's a lot of different excuses I’m hearing for why people are active in the streets right now. But the volatility is high. I could definitely tell you that there's a lot of anxiety. There's a lot of tension in the streets of America, and people are gravitating to crime and violence in these moments.
With that in mind, how do you balance these feelings of empathy towards the experiences of Americans and the frustrations of having this virus hit close to home after your son and his wife tested positive?
Well, for me, the proximity is different. We're all dealing with the ramifications of the virus in this country. But there are still a lot of people who don't have someone close to them that has been affected by the disease. Our son and his wife both contracted it right at the time where they were giving birth to a new child. It was like the day of the birth my son found out he was infected. The day after the birth, my daughter-in-law found out she was infected. So the baby couldn't go home with them. They had to go in quarantine when they left the hospital. The baby came home with me and my wife for a week and then went with my daughter-in-law's parents for a week. So just that immediate understanding that as much as I would love for them to spend this time with their child, it's just not safe.
That baby has to come from a way out of that environment, because we don't know how a disease like that can affect the newborn child. That's more emotional than anything. But the parents understood it, they weren't crazy about it, but they understand it, because the last thing they want to do is hurt their beautiful baby girl. On the other side of it, my father had it, my aunt had it, as well. They came through pretty good. Everyone in my immediate vicinity, with the exception of one person weathered the storm fairly well. Now, my brother's wife, her mother, who's an older woman, her mother was already in her 90s, she contracted the disease. And unfortunately, she passed away from COVID. And so for them, it was a lot more emotionally taxing. My niece and nephews lost their grandmother. My sister in law lost her mother. And so that was a lot more emotionally taxing than some of these other situations. And it's just in these moments where you want to make sure that you're there for people emotionally, give people an ear to speak or a shoulder to cry on, so to speak.
But we were very happy and lucky in that moment that we were not infected, and we were able to provide a safe environment for our granddaughter to be in those times. But it really makes you think, like, this is real. And I felt the need -- I very seldom put my family's business out there. But I felt it was important to let people know that trust me, whereas they may not trust it news, they may not trust social media, whatever. But they have, there's a trust factor that I have built up with certain people. And when I get out there and say, ‘hey, it's real, my son has it,’ people started looking at things a little bit different.
Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images
DAY TWO OF HNHH INTERVIEW WITH BUN B
You have always been at the forefront of many social causes in Houston and America. You were obviously very vocal about the Breonna Taylor case. You shared something after the election that really stood out to me about how people shouldn’t be complacent about making change just because the Biden-Harris administration won the election.
This government will not actively promote ideas, legislation, [and] reform for people of color, specifically Black people in this country, without being forced to do it. Like, America is not going to wake up one day and acknowledge its complicity in systemic racism. That's far from a government aspect, right? It's complicity and systemic racism. Its complicity in oppression. Suppression. All of these different things that have been done to create roadblocks for People Of Color in this country trying to get to the same level of equality as white people. Anytime the rights of the citizen have been either reclaimed or redirected to benefit the citizen, it's only because of citizens standing up to be heard. So the government doesn't necessarily look over the law of the land, and purposely make reforms that benefit us just because it's a wrong that's being done. We have to scream that it's wrong -- that we've been wronged in these circumstances. And that change must happen. It has to be very strong demands, it has to be very loud demands, there has to be a disruption of normalcy on some level. The least of it tends to be -- you know, you'll see a group of people doing sit-ins in government buildings and disrupting traffic on interstates, right? That's like the low end of it. Obviously, the higher end, the further end of it, is when you see structural damage, like looting. That kind of stuff. And all these things, whether you agree with them or not, caused change to occur. And it's funny that whenever we talk about looting in this country and rioting in this country, it's always from the perspective of People Of Color committing these acts. No one really talks about the hundreds of acts of rioting and looting through Black communities in their earliest days of formation, right? From the 1800s up until maybe the 1900s. It's funny how it's always framed when we commit these acts, but there's no accountability for what happened in Tulsa, Black Wall Street, things of that nature. Although it wouldn't be my course of action, I don't denounce people that choose to act out in that way.
"And it's funny that whenever we talk about looting in this country and rioting in this country, it's always from the p
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