Bun B and DJ Rapid Ric

Bun B

Trill (Rap-A-Lot/Asylum)

DJ Rapid Ric

King of the Trill: Bun B's Greatest Verses (Mixtape Mechanic)

Now more than ever, inebriation is a crutch on the bayou, down-home Houston rap flooding its bloodstream with stupefying distortions. Riding blurred waves of ho's and hurt like an escapist champ, Bun B designates himself as just the driver to steer the course and ensure that "what happened in New Orleans should never happen again." Evacuating his block from the death-grip of DJ Screw mind mazes, Bun enlists national figureheads including Jay-Z, Lil Jon, and Ludacris to infuse his solo debut, Trill, with wavering vigor. As Z-Ro and Young Jeezy gargle a chorus too potent to swallow on "Get Throwed," Lil' Keke glides through Salih's carnival of mirrors "draped up and dripped up, know what I'm talking 'bout." Waxing and waning through mothership UGK's trying history as a group, Bun's never-ending verse paints "The Story" with grueling tones of paranoia and misfortune. An unspectacular industry album from such a respected regional specialist is far from what the doctor ordered for Trill, yet Bun could hardly be expected to peak without the services of his incarcerated partner Pimp C. Luckily, Austin's Rapid Ric fills the void with his latest mix disc, King of the Trill: Bun B's Greatest Verses, available for download-only at www.houstonsoreal.blogspot.com. Sprinkling 52 drops of lyrical tweak over a cauldron of mushroom-capped instrumentals, the local Mixtape Mechanic casts Bun as the gatekeeper to a high so layered in sound bubbles that his "if I spit the shit, I did the shit" credo implodes upon itself, grafting fresh realities from faded memories.

(Trill)

(King of the Trill)