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SXSW Review: Bun B
Like many venues at SXSW, it was a weird combination of luck, timing, luck, patience and luck that anyone at all got in to Fuze after about 11 p.m., the site of the early, early morning set by Bun B, the surviving member of the Houston hip-hop duo UGK and an increasingly mythic dude in his own right.
At SXSW, hip-hop shows are either packed (thanks to the relative scarcity of hip-hop) or empty (poor Sway, the excellent UK rapper whose ’07 showcase was all but empty). This was one of the former.
At times, the crowd outside was so thick it didn’t look like anyone could get in. At other times, badge holders could walk right in. But the club itself was packed virtually all night. A surprise appearance from Geto Boy Bushwick Bill yielded a line from “Mind’s Playing Tricks on Me” a couple of freestyles and few minutes where he seemed to morph into the host (“The next artists ain’t here so Bushwick Bill gonna have some fun!”)
Austin MC Gerald G killed it with sharp verses over a spare beat from Rapid Ric - we need to hear more from that guy.
Eventually, after some more freestyles, a couple of tributes to Bun B’s late partner Pimp C, including moments of silence, (unlikely, given the packed crowd), various chants of “Pimp C, Pimp C, Pimp C” and “Texas, Texas, Texas” (much more likely) and a few SXSW officials saying “If you’re not with Bun B, you got to get off the stage” (again, kind of a tall order considering how packed it was) Middle Fingaz knocked out a quick song.
When will we see Bun B, long promised as right outside?
Suddenly there was Bun B at 1:29 a.m., no fanfare, no nonsense, dressed in black, holding a mic and reminding everyone how charismatic live hip-hop can be in the hands of a good M.C. (The filling-shattering bass didn’t hurt.)
Bun flew through verses from his solo joint “Trill,” line from UGK songs and more, even as technical problems with Bun’s mic were clearly frustrating him (“Let’s not make this an issue tonight”).
Surrounded by Texas MCs who knew the words to all of his hits - as well as the British MC Dizzee Rascal, who tore it up in the middle of Bun’s set while some technical issues were sorted out - Bun was what Texas insiders have for years insisted he was - an elder statesman who still seems to have plenty of great years left.
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