Bun B

Rapper Bun B (born Bernard Freeman) rose to fame as one-half of the Southern rap duo UGK. 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 signed with Jive, and with 1992's Too Hard to Swallow, began a series of Southern gangsta rap albums that were successful sellers. Bun B formed the side project Mddl Fngz in 2000, but his main concern was still UGK. Things came to halt in 2003 when Pimp C was sentenced to eight years in prison on an aggravated gun assault charge. Bun B carried on solo, making numerous appearances on other artists' tracks and then in 2005 releasing both the mixtape Legends and his debut album, the Rap-a-Lot release Trill, a top 10 hit. With Pimp C seeing early release from prison in late 2005, Bun B returned to UGK and a self-titled double album from the duo dropped in 2007.

Tragedy struck in early 2008 when Pimp C died suddenly, leaving Bun B to return to a solo career.

His second solo album, II Trill, arrived that same year with his third, Trill O.G., following in 2010. In 2013 he closed the Trill series with its fourth and final effort, Trill O.G.: The Epilogue.

At the start of the Spring 2011 semester, Bun B joined the faculty of Rice University as a Distinguished Lecturer. He taught a course in the School of the Humanities on Hip-Hop and Religion.