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    still trill after 25

    Houston's hip-hop icon Bun B reflects on the 25th anniversary of UGK's legendary album

    Craig Lindsey
    Jul 29, 2021 | 12:13 pm
    Bun B black shirt black hat
    Bun B looks back on Ridin' Dirty, UGK's historic and influential album.
    Photo courtesy of Bun B

    Twenty-five years ago this Friday, July 30, the duo of Bun B and Pimp C — better known as UGK (Underground Kingz) — released their third album Ridin' Dirty.

    Despite not having any singles or music videos for listeners to sample, it became their best-selling album, moving 70,000 copies in its first week and 850,000 copies sold to date. It has also become one of the most influential hip-hop albums to come out of Texas.

    "If a hundred people approach me," Bun B tells CultureMap, "ninety-five of them will immediately go to Ridin' Dirty."

    However, Bun B says he would've loved to have some singles and videos out there. "We simply didn't get any support from [Jive Records]," he laments. "UGK wanted what everybody else wanted. We wanted big videos, big marketing campaigns, tour buses and all of that. But our record company never believed in us enough to do that kind of stuff... We didn't want to not have videos for Ridin' Dirty. Pimp actually wanted a video for every song on Ridin' Dirty."

    Though Jive didn't give Bun and his late collaborator Pimp C (who died in 2007 from an accidental overdose of codeine and promethazine — aka "purple drank") the major publicity push they wanted, they still dropped an album full of vivid, inventive wordplay and funky beats.

    With Pimp handling most of the production, Bun says his partner made sure that his style of hip-hop funk (where the guitars were performed by Leo Nocentelli, of the funk group The Meters) wasn't an imitation of the G-funk other West Coast cats were doing.

    "Pimp C was actually trying to avoid any of that West Coast/Dr. Dre/G-funk influence, because everybody started putting heavy synths in their record and trying to imitate that sound," Bun B says. "Pimp was trying to be as far away from that as possible."

    If Pimp worked on the beats being distinctive, Bun worked on the lyricism being immaculate. His bars were so tight and timeless, Jay-Z would later jack one for his classic "99 Problems." (Of course, Jay-Z would get the pair to collab on the Timbaland-produced "Big Pimpin'.")

    "The reasons why the rhymes still work today is because we consciously would talk about not dating music, right?" says Bun B. "So, if you wanna talk about a Benz, you could talk about the class of the Benz, but try not to say the year of the Benz, right? So if you stick to those kinds of general themes in life — money, sex, power, love, betrayal — all of these kinds of themes that have always existed, then albums will stand the test of time."

    While Bun doesn't have a big anniversary celebration planned for Dirty, he is interviewing the people involved with the album on his radio show The 2 Trill Show, which can be heard weekly on SiriusXM's Rock the Bells Radio.

    Of course, you can still listen to the album, which — as the kids say — still slaps.

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    One More for the Road

    ZZ Top honors late drummer Frank Beard with Austin tribute concert

    Brianna Caleri
    Aug 20, 2026 | 4:30 pm
    ZZ Top
    ZZ Top/Facebook
    ZZ Top will celebrate their late drummer, Frank Beard (middle, after a show in Canada), at one of his favorite venues.

    Texas rock trio ZZ Top will play a tribute to their late drummer, Frank Beard, at their scheduled Austin tour stops at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on August 22 and 23. Beard died Monday, August 17, at 77.

    The band announced Beard's death in a social media statement.

    Lead vocalist and songwriter Billy Gibbons wrote, "Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top."

    ZZ Top canceled performances in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs following Beard's death. The Austin shows will be the band's first onstage again, offering a fitting time to celebrate the Texas great. A statement on the band's website calls the Austin City Limits stage "one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him."

    Beard was born near Tyler in Frankston, Texas, in 1949. He was raised in Irving, outside Dallas, and the band formed in Houston in 1969. The Austin Chronicle reported in 2013 that Beard was then splitting time between a house on Lake Travis, in Austin, and Houston. He died on his ranch in the Houston suburb of Richmond.

    ZZ Top was known for its large performances and elaborate setup, none more so than the Worldwide Texas Tour, which included a Texas-shaped stage and a collection of live Texas animals.

    In 1974, the band left its mark on Austin — for better or worse — at "ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas Sized Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance & Bar B.Q." at the University of Texas. It was the first, but also the last, since around 80,000 of the band's "friends" trashed the venue, earned the disapproval of the famous Coach Royal, and were ostensibly responsible for the venue not hosting another rock show until 1995. ZZ Top's two encores had 20 years to ring out after the legendary, if infamous show.

    ZZ Top will make their upcoming Austin appearances as part of The Big One! Tour on Saturday, August 22, at 8 pm and Sunday, August 23, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are still available for both shows at acllive.com.

    live musicmusichistorycelebritiesobituaryacl liveconcerts
    news/entertainment

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