Bun B -- II Trill

Rating: 3/5 stars

Pros: Bun brings out the best in many of his A-list guests.

Cons: Pimp C's mic presence is sorely missed.

Bottom Line: UGK was more than the sum of its parts; Bun's career may have died in that Hollywood hotel room too.

Recommended Tracks:

Damn, I'm Cold

Swang on 'Em


Childhood friends from Port Arthur, Bun B and Pimp C formed the rap duo UGK in 1987. While they never achieved the commercial success of contemporaries like Outkast, they were just as influential.

Over the ensuing two decades, they were joined at the hip. When Pimp C was incarcerated in 2002, Bun B did innumerable feature yelling "Free Pimp C" to keep his memory alive. He released one solo album (2005's Trill) while Pimp was in jail, but otherwise steadfastly refused to rap without his partner.

Tragically, Pimp died of a mix of sleep apnea and a drug overdose in Hollywood hotel last year. And for the first time, Bun is releasing a new album (II Trill) without his life-long partner to lean on. It's Mick Jagger releasing a record without Keith Richards.

II Trill leans heavily on the UGK template that birthed a generation of Houston rappers -- songs about cars, girls and gangstas over laid-back bass-heavy beats. But Bun was always the more thoughtful and lyrical of the duo, and pointed social commentary emerges throughout.

He's become on of rap's elder statesman, the sheer length of his career giving him an air of wisdom and gravitas: "On these cold and black streets hunting / And a young black man can lose his life over nothing / If I got to go, please let it be for something real / cuz this bullshit hood shit is getting people killed."

What's missing is the energy and charisma Pimp brought to UGK; Bun's monotone delivery wears over 16 tracks. To compensate, the album is flooded with guest appearances from seemingly every Southern rapper. It's no coincidence that Bun sounds best when trading bars with energetic rappers like Lil' Wanye ("Damn I'm Cold") and Young Buck ("If I Die II Night").

But there's never a doubt about who his real partner will always be, as Bun delivers a sad refrain that rap fans have become all too familiar with: "I guess I just assumed we had more time / for us to make more music and write more rhymes."

Scarface -- MADE

Rating: 3/5 stars

Pros: Wide-ranging and engaging look at the unglamorous life of Houston's greatest rapper.

Cons: An album more at home in 1997 than 2007.

Bottom Line: Scarface eschews modern rap and puts out "oldies" album.

Recommended Tracks:

Never

Who Do You Believe In

Rap has always been a young man’s game. While the Rolling Stones can still make a fortune touring, hip-hop pioneers like Rakim and KRS-One have long since faded into obscurity. But the teenagers who grew up listening to rap in the early 90’s are almost forty years old now – old enough to be Soulja Boy’s parents.

Scarface brought rap to the South with the Geto Boys 1991 album We Can’t Be Stopped. Nearly two decades later, the Houston legend speaks for many of his fans when he talks about the current rap scene: “If I leave, they won’t respect the South, because n***** soft / Talking bout what’s in they mouth; talking about what’s in they cars and house / And that ain’t what we all about.”

Where his 2002 classic The Fix had appearances from Jay-Z and Kanye West, “M.A.D.E.” is stubbornly old-fashioned – an ‘oldies’ rap album. And with only 10 songs and no mainstream collaborations, there aren’t any attempts at radio play.

It sticks faithfully to his trademark style – dark, uncompromising subject matter over simple-soul tinged beats. It’s an album that could have been released a decade ago.

This doesn’t mean he hasn’t changed artistically, if anything, the ensuing years have made him even more jaded and cynical. M.A.D.E. is certainly not an uplifting testament to the human condition.

The best verse of the year may be on Who Do You Believe In when he focuses on the ghetto “that changed for the worse.” Suicide Note tells a haunting story about a friend’s death and Go doubts his ability to stay faithful. His wry, monotone delivery fits well with album’s world-weary tone; you’ve never heard talk of lesbians and threesomes delivered so dispassionately.

Many rappers of Scarface’s generation have become parodies trying to remain relevant (LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg), while others have tried to chase different entertainment careers (Andre 3000, Ice Cube) or become executives (Dr. Dre, Jay-Z). In returning to his past, M.A.D.E. offers a new blueprint for these aging rappers. It’s a formula that will please his fans, and could see Scarface, like the Rolling Stones, sticking around for a long time.

Chamillionaire -- Ultimate Victory

Rating: 4/5 stars

Pros: Good balance of social commentary and gangsta rap.

Cons: No obvious single means album will probably be overlooked.

Bottom Line: Chamillionaire establishes himself as the best of Houston's new generation of rappers.

Recommended Tracks:

Morning News

Ultimate Victory

Combining a plain beat with lyrics about racial profiling, Ridin was an unlikely No. 1 single. Instead of following a radio formula, it was a song so good, radio had to play it. Chamillionaire became an uncommon rap star — famous not for a big name association or a memorable gimmick but his music.

His follow-up Ultimate Victory is unwilling to chase success. "Tell the world that I'm more than just a grill/If that's all you hearing, then let me just be for real/Take your contract, to hell with a record deal." Eschewing big-name producers and forced collaborations, Chamillionaire sticks with the classic Houston sound: heavy bass lines, dramatic instrumentation and slowed-down beats.

As a result, its the rare mainstream rap album that flows easily from start to finish. It doesn't hurt that he's an incredibly gifted rapper, with a smooth flow that effortlessly harmonizes within the beat. Where rappers often sound silly merging singing and rapping (Ja Rule), his vocal range makes it seem natural on Standing Ovation.

Most impressively, he has the lyrical versatility to rap about hoes (Industry Groupie) and haters (Welcome to the South) while also offering biting social commentary: "Every time I talk about Katrina, they look at me like it's a misdemeanor/Anyways, there's way more important stuff that we can discuss/'N Sync, Makin da Band and Milli Vanilli have broken up." He's so lyrically talented you'll never notice that he doesn't curse once on the entire album.

And though Ultimate Victory might not have another Ridin, it's the type of album that builds a long-term fan base. Blindly following the hottest trends won’t reverse rap’s sales decline. After all, while Still Tippin made his Houston contemporaries (Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Slim Thug) stars first, Chamillionaire seems to be the last one standing.