Third time's the trillest

Bun B, Drake, and hip hop all-stars cowboy up at historic RodeoHouston performance

Thanks to help from his super friends, Trill City turned into the epicenter of the hip-hop world on Tuesday, March 12 as Bun B reclaimed his title as the most-attended male rap performer in RodeoHouston history with 75,005 paying attendees.

On a night that sizzled hotter than a double-patty Trill Burger being served at one of the locations on the NRG Stadium concourse, the 33-song, 90-minute set featured a who’s-who of internationally recognized stars, including Drake, Nelly, Rick Ross, Eve, Ying Yang Twins, That Mexican OT, and DMC of Run-DMC.

It was a coup de grace from the Port Arthur-raised, long-time Houston-cultural ambassador and entrepreneur. The affable and influential artist built his name to bucking bull-sized levels at RodeoHouston since he first brought his rap spectacular to the dirt and dust in 2022 as his H-Town Take Takeover. In 2023, he grew the show to his Southern Takeover, which drew an impressive 74,573 fans.

The 2024 performance expanded even further into the All-American Takeover, promising to bring in some of the biggest rappers on the planet, promoters wisely announcing artists in the weeks leading up to the show. However, demand for tickets reached a fever pitch when Drake was announced last week, skyrocketing resale prices into the hundreds of dollars.

The anticipation was palpable walking up to the stadium and on the rodeo grounds, people dressed in an eclectic mix of Western-wear and leisurewear, and sometimes a mash-up of both. In other words, it was a perfect encapsulation of the music that makes Houston great.

Videos by popular sports, comedy, and music luminaries introduced artists throughout the night. Shannon Sharpe and several Houston Astros kicked off the show and hyped up the crowd on-screen before Bun B started things off with his solo hit, “Draped Up,” dressed up in a tricked out leather poncho and black cowboy hat, backed by an impressive nine-piece band that took songs to another level.

Bun, always the savvy showman, then ceded the spotlight to his many guests for most of the evening. Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch video-introduced California rapper E-40, who got people dancing in the aisles with “Snap Ya Fingers” and “Tell Me When to Go,” dressed in an all-red jacket-pants outfit, gold glasses and cowboy hat.

E’s funked out beats gave way to West Coast rap pioneer Too Short for the classic “Blow Tha Whistle,” and the first singalong of the night. He wrapped up his, ahem, too short, two song set with the jazzy track, “The Ghetto.”

Cedric the Entertainer introduced a still-youthful-looking Nelly, representing the Midwest with a four-song medley of his biggest songs, including “E.I.,” “Country Grammar,” “Over and Over,” and “Hot in Herre,” easily the best moment of the show up to that point. If a late Gen Xer/early Millennial closed their eyes hard enough, they’d be transported directly back to the set of MTV’s Total Request Live.

Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots brought out another star of the TRL era, the versatile and fantastic Eve, gorgeously dressed head-to-toe in black leather adorned with a black cowboy hat. Her Latin-flavored “Who’s That Girl” sounded as fresh as it did when it was released in 2001. The Dr. Dre-produced “Let Me Blow Your Mind” highlighted her sultry flow, finishing with a call out to the ladies in the house.

“If you’re still having a good time, shout hell yeah,” Bun proclaimed between songs. And Houston shouted, “Hell yeah.”

Lil’ Jon queued up ATL’s Ying Yang Twins, “Say I Yi Yi,” turning up the heat another notch, the crowd now fully invested in the party. “Miss New Booty,” “Whistler While You Twerk,” and “Get Low,” recalled a bump-and-grind nightclub, the earworms working their way up the rafters, a guitar solo on the latter song making it absolutely nasty in a good way.

DJ Khaled teed up Florida’s Rick Ross, drawing a huge response with his anthem, “Hustlin’.” Thong-and-fishnet clad booties accentuated “Pop That” on the big screens.

The focus turned back towards the Gulf Coast with Scarface introducing Baytown’s fast rising That Mexican OT. He paid homage to past Tejano rodeo shows with an all-white cowboy attire, running through his tracks “Cowboy Killer” and “Johnny Dang” before wrapping up with an enthusiastic “Muchos gracias.”

It wouldn’t be a RodeoHouston Takeover without slab cars, Bun B taking back the mic for “Get Throned” as Lil’ Keke came out in a black Cadillac. Yellowstone star Ryan Bingham then joined in on acoustic guitar for “One Day,” one of the quieter moments of the evening.

“We dedicate this song to all of our fallen friends and fallen soldiers,” Bun said as he asked the crowd to light the stadium with their cell phones, remembering the Houston scene’s lost members. “If you are here missing someone, put up a light for them.”

“And to thank you for all that you’ve done for me and my family, I present to you, the boy,” he said as three black cars drove towards the stage. “This is our newest resident, please make some noise for Drizzy Drake.”

A collective scream rose through the building, the moment many had been waiting for, Drake kicking into “Energy,” wearing a burnt orange tinsel-tassel jacket, tasseled black track pants and a Bun B Trill album t-shirt. Drizzy put down his microphone to let the audience take over for a few bars on “Sicko Mode.” “God’s Plan” and “Hotline Bling” touted his crowd work skills, a fireworks and pyro display taking things over the top.

“The first time I did this song in Houston, Texas was at Warehouse Live,” Drake said, before officially announcing his move to H-town with an ode to the local scene on “November 18th.”

An appearance by the legendary Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC followed and brought a quick dose of NYC East Coast rap for “Bun’s House.”

And the only fitting way to end the night was with a group jam session on UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You),” the lights coming on as the set passed curfew.

The guest rappers that performed across the night smartly covered a broad swath of classic hip-hop eras and cities, mostly catering to those who grew up in and around the chopped and screwed years that put Houston on the map. But those fertile years of rap in the 713 were only one part of nationwide hip-hop movement so well represented on Tuesday night.

“Houston, I love you! Now go outside and get you a Trill Burger,” Bun B said, donning a crown as he rode off on the back of a pick-up truck, the after-parties surely just getting started.

There’s no word whether Bun B will be back next year, but if so, this record-setting performance would surely be hard to top. No doubt, we’d all line up again to pay our respects to the King of Trill.

Setlist
Draped Up, Bun B
Snap Ya Fingers, E-40
Tell Me When To Go, E-40
Blow Tha’ Whistle, Too Short
The Ghetto, Too Short
E.I., Nelly
Country Grammar, Nelly
Over and Over, Nelly
Hot in Herre, Nelly
Who’s That Girl, Eve
Rich Girl, Eve
Let Me Blow Your Mind, Eve
Tambourine, Eve
Say I Yi Yi, Ying Yang Twins
Miss New Booty, Ying Yang Twins
Whistle While You Twerk, Ying Yang Twins
Get Low, Ying Tang Twins
Hustlin’, Rick Ross
BMF, Rick Ross
All I Do/Pop That, Rick Ross
Cowboy Killer, That Mexican OT
Johnny Dang, That Mexican OT
Get Throned, Bun B
One Day, Bun B ft. Ryan Bingham
N 2 Deep Intro, Drake
Energy, Drake
Nonstop, Drake
Sicko Mode, Drake
God’s Plan, Drake
Hotline Bling, Drake
Rich Baby Daddy, Drake
Bun’s House, Bun B ft. DMC
Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You), Bun B featuring group

Drake Bun B All American Takeover Rodeo 2024

Photo by Marco Torres/@marcofromhouston

Drake performed seven of his biggest hits.

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Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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