Hip-Hop.com

Right before Red Bull EmSee battle rap royale in Boston a few weeks ago (no joke, we were at the Royale in Boston), our host Bun B and judges Jean Grae and Pharoahe Monch sat down and talked to Brooklyn Bodega and Tha Reelness about the tour, battle rap in general, and what they’re looking for when the battles happen. Red Bull EmSee is still ongoing, we have five finalists for the big Atlanta finale, with regionals in DC on October 24, Detroit on October 28, and Miami on November 16 to find the last three finalists in the field. read more »

Red Bull will bring back the EmSee competition this year, pitting the nation’s best battle rhymers against each other to crown a national champion. The competition was inaugurated last year, curated by Eminem with a finals battle in Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit, the city’s mecca for live hip-hop. In a twist from your usual freestyle battle, each emcee needed to incorporate word and image cues from the stage monitors in their raps to ensure those are really improvised freestyles and not a bunch of clever pre-writtens.

This year’s EmSee: Welcome to the A tour will consist of seven regional competitions and a final, with the first regional in Los Angeles at the Echoplex on Sunset Boulevard on June 9th. Bun B will host the proceedings, while Chali 2NA, Kurupt and Supernatural will be there as judges and will give a special performance. Tickets available now and $10 cheap. The whole series of eight shows will be taped and broadcast nationally. We’ll have more info to come.

Check out a video of last year’s finals below for a taste of what’s to come. Part 2 is after the jump. To find out more, click over to RedBullUSA.com.

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One of the more entertaining ironies of an announcement last fall that rapper Bernard “Bun B” Freeman would co-teach a Religion and Hip Hop Culture course at Rice University this spring is that it created a great number of skeptics.
Hip hop critics couldn’t picture a street MC in a library, much less a college classroom, and members of many faiths wondered how a musician with “Explicit Lyrics” stickers on his CDs could adequately educate others about godly matters.
However, Anthony Pinn, Rice’s Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies, said he had no doubts about the assignment.
“I take my job seriously and am not letting just anybody in,” Pinn said about Freeman. “My conversations with (Bun B) convinced me that, not only was he a tremendous artist, but that he was a deep and thoughtful thinker who would do a fine job.”
Obviously it’s drawn interest. The class, open to both graduate and undergraduate students, has almost doubled its roster from years past. Nearly 250 students are enrolled and meet twice a week in one of the few auditoriums on campus that can accommodate its size.
Pinn said that his class’s definition of “religion” is broad, viewing it as the human effort to wrestle with the huge questions of life: Who? What? When? Where? and Why are we? In this course in particular, students are discussing the ways in which hip hop culture addresses and answers those inquires and have enlisted nationally known Freeman, a Port Arthur native for insight.
“Professor Trill,” as some call him, using a play off of Bun B’s frequently used hip-hop slang for “authenticity,” said he spends several hours preparing for each class, which he opens with a lecture.

Freeman describes himself as a Southern Baptist and attends The Church at Bethel’s Family in southwest Houston. He said that UGK rhyme partner Chad “Pimp C” Butler’s 2002 incarceration and 2007 death had a big impact on his faith.
“Initially, I was a very lost soul. I was concerned about the future of my family, his family, and the career that we had built. With this came depression, with depression came more drinking and more drugging until I felt like I had almost hit rock bottom spiritually,” Freeman said. “I came out of it knowing that I needed to start anew — a ‘rebirth’ so to speak.”
Freeman said that after praying to God for direction, his wife suggested he find a church home.
“I didn’t necessarily need a good preacher, but a good house of faith, somewhere I could go and feel comfortable praising and taking in the message without having to dress a certain way just to be a member, or where I had to sit in the back row,” Freeman said. He also said he believes that, at times, his work as a rap artist can even be considered “spiritual.”
“In UGK’s music we always talk about ‘We’re the star, the lights are on us, and we’re the center of attention,’ but then when you leave from amongst the people, how do you look at yourself? How do you deal with knowing that some of the things you’ve done are not in accordance with God’s law?” Freeman said of the group he co-founded with Pimp C.
“This is the struggle that almost anyone has, in any walk of life, regardless of career. But we, as hip-hop artists, are able to express this confusion within our art and talk about being stuck and not knowing how we’re going to be judged at the end of the road.”
Discerning ears will hear Bun B’s Christian faith bleed through on Trill O.G., the critically acclaimed solo album he released in August on Rap-A-Lot Records.
The lead track, Chuuch! (hip hop’s version of “amen”), calls listeners to “the altar” for a message of truth over a beat highlighted by a Sunday morning organ.
“Most of us (Texas rappers) grew up in church and remember these gospel records and that overtone,” Freeman said. “It’s almost implicitly understood that, being Southern and Southern Baptist, your mom or your grandmother or someone is going to see what you’re doing and you’re going to be called out on it.”
But this doesn’t mean that Bun B is, or plans to be, a “Christian rapper.” Artists in that genre will point out that while Trill O.G. contains motivational tales like All a Dream, there are also plenty of songs about drugs, money and loose women.
“Yes, I do have some music that would probably, in a religious aspect, be indefensible; some of it would even be considered immoral. I can agree with that and I can handle that, but that’s not the only message I’ve sent through my music or that you’ll hear in hip hop,” Freeman said.
“All I ask is that you don’t judge me and this course based upon the bad rap that you’ve heard, even the bad rap I have done, because, quite honestly, hip hop doesn’t deserve that. Hip hop has done more than that, been more creative and inspirational than even (it) has been able to show.”

By JASON BELLINI FOR THE CHRONICLE

HOUSTON – Texas rap legend Bun B and Boost Mobile have teamed up to host a holiday food drive and charity concert benefiting Houston’s hungry Saturday, December 18.

The rap artist is offering a free concert to those who donate canned food to the Houston Food Bank.

“Once again at this time of year, when so many are without the basic necessities of life, Boost Mobile and 2 Trill Entertainment are more than happy to recommit themselves to helping the Houston community,” said Bun B.

Visitors who drop off five or more cans of food to Boost Mobile stores throughout the Houston area will receive a free pair of tickets to the concert held at Warehouse Live Saturday at 9 p.m.

“Boost Mobile believes in the positive power of music,” said Maurice Elrod, local marketing manager, Boost Mobile. “Partnering with Bun B is a great way to encourage the Houston community to give back this holiday season. We are confident we will provide the Houston Food Bank a large contribution of canned goods.”

Bun B said it is more than just a privilege for him to give back; those that have more should try and support those that are struggling.

“We created this event for the same reason we helped Haiti and did the Thanksgiving drive last year, it’s our duty as people of compassion to help those that need it,” he said.

The Port Arthur native says that he understands taking care of the home front is the first line of defense and shows appreciation for his fans by staying involved.

“As an artist, it shows that the Houston music community isn’t blind to the issues affecting its local citizens, and that we are willing to lend a hand. It also shows the community that we are not just here to take from them and that we care about what happens around us locally,” he said.

This is the second year Boost Mobile has partnered with Bun B for a holiday food drive. In 2009, the effort produced more than 7,000 cans of food to donate to the Houston Food Bank.

Bun B says he has something special in store for the crowd this year.  In an interview with Houston radio station 97.9 the Box, the rapper revealed he is adding a song to his act that’s never been performed live.

Bun B uses the art of entertainment often as a means of giving back. This summer, he headlined Houston’s Hip Hop for HIV charity concert for those who were responsible enough to get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. More than 15,000 young adults attended the event.

For more information and a complete list of drop-off locations, visit warehouselive.com.