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Album Review: Bun B - Return of The Trill


While everyone else was excited about a surprise Eminem Album, I was heavily anticipating the new album Return of The Trill from Bun B. If you aren't familiar with Bun B, well you just don't want to be. Bun B has a historic career as a member of UGK, alongside Pimp C then an astounding solo career where he's managed to sell hundreds of thousands of records when people were actively stating he could not sell albums without Pimp C. He's also taught classes on Hip Hop and Religion at Rice University published coloring books for children and so much more. Bun B is a rappers rapper who gives back to and educates his community as one of the pillars of his art. With that being said, we haven't gotten new music from Bun B in five years.

Return of The Trill features a lot of different styles of production. Not all of it comes from Texas, but it's all from The South. Big KRIT, specifically is all over the album and credited as executive producer. Tracks with KRIT are certainly standouts and some of the best tracks on the album. The one problem with this is that sometimes it feels like a Big KRIT album featuring Bun B and that's okay.

Lyrically, Bun may have lost a step. I say may because we can't be sure. There's not a lot of tracks where Bun flexes his lyrical muscles. It sounds weird but this is an extremely dumbed down album for Bun B. I'm not all about lyrical miracle hip hop. I like Nas and Yo Gotti too. You can't have Jay Z without Jermaine Dupri. It's just that Bun B isn't known for making party tracks as a solo artist. When he does, it can be hit or miss.

A lot of this album can be hit or miss because it seems like there's a lot of filler. I'm not even sure why "Rudboi," is on the album. It doesn't sound anything like the rest of the album. It might be the worst Bun B song I've ever heard and it might be a really old Lil Wayne verse but I can't tell. It sounds more like it would fit II Trill instead of this album.

The problem with Return of The Trill isn't that it's a bad album. The problem is it just doesn't feel like a Bun B album. There's tracks I'm going to go back to for sure, but as a whole, I probably won't. We've come to know Bun B as one of the more introspective rappers, not just from Texas, but all of hip hop. We didn't necessarily get a lot of that on this album. While tracks like "Blood on the Dash," and "U a Bitch," are classic Bun, there's a lot that isn't. That's not to say Bun B has never made tracks like "Trap Hands," before. That would be a lie. The problem is that he's just lacking all the substance around those tracks.

I love Pimp C, we all did. It just seems that as time goes on, we lose Bun more and more and get the content that Pimp C was known for. Again, Pimp C brought us plenty of meaningful thoughts. But, Pimp C would be more likely to bring us "Hoes From Da Hood," than Bun B. It just doesn't fit the Bun B that we've all come to know and love. It's UGK, then, now, and forever. We know that. It's great that Bun B is keeping Pimp C's memory alive, but he can keep the memory alive while closing that chapter. Even if it's been five years between albums, we're still getting Pimp C verses. We're still getting Pimp C interviews. We're still getting Pimp C influence on everything.

You should buy Darrell's Book, watch him on the Blerds Online YouTube Channel or The CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. 
Darrell S.

Hey, I write stuff, a lot of different stuff, that's all.

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