How Old Is Bun B

How Old Is Bun B

Bun B (born Bernard Freeman March 19, 1973) is an African American rapper, one half (with Pimp C) of Southern hip hop act UGK from Port Arthur, Texas. He now resides 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 Pimp C. Bun B is short for Bun Beater, or Big Bun B-Da. 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.

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"). 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 debut 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 AND1 Streetball video game with the track "Hard In the Paint". Jay-Z, one of the world's most popular and commercially successful rappers, is a longtime admirer of the group, and in 2000, he invited both Bun B and Pimp C to guest on "Big Pimpin'", a Timbaland-produced single. Bun B wrote and performed what is commonly regarded as a show-stealing guest verse.

The song earned a Grammy nomination, and UGK acquired significant nationwide attention. Record labels and mainstream listeners looked at them with renewed interest, and there was much talk of a successful crossover into the mainstream. Jive wanted to follow-up Big Pimpin' with another Jay-z and Timbaland song, but UGK felt it would alienate their core fanbase. This caused a rift between the two parties and their then up-coming album, Dirty Money, was purposely shelfed by the label.

When Dirty Money was finally released and UGK geared up to tour, things came to a halt when Pimp C was sentenced to eight years in prison on the charge of aggravated gun assault in 2001. Bun B carried on as solo artist, making numerous appearances on other artists' tracks and then releasing both the mixtape Legends and his debut album Trill in 2005. In solidarity with Pimp C, Bun B ad-libbed the words "Free Pimp C", "Free the Pimp" or words to that effect in nearly every song he made or appeared on, until his bandmate was freed from incarceration.

Pimp C was released from prison in 2006, and released a solo album of his own, Pimpalation. 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.

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