BUN'S BIG WEEKEND
Houston rap legend Bun B hosts the ultimate weekend party
Aug 30, 2019, 11:12 am
Brunch, roller skate, and rhyme with Bun B this weekend. Photo by Maigen Berg
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
It's been a tradition for nearly a decade now: the day of celebration known as Bun B Day. But, for this year, the beloved Port Arthur rapper will turn his day into a full-fledged weekend.
Things will kick off on Friday, August 30, with the release of his new EP, aptly titled Bun B Day. "We knew that we were planning things for Bun B Weekend, and I thought, you know, my fans are always asking for more music," Bun (government name: Bernard James Freeman) tells CultureMap. "And I thought it would be fun just to drop a couple of songs to coincide with the weekend."
On this five-track release, Bun will be rapping alongside such young guns as T.Y. (the son of Cash Money rapper B.G.) and fellow Port Arthur rappers GP of 4/5 & P.A. Yung'n. "I always wanted, like, Bun B Day to be a day where you kinda gave back, right? So, I thought what would be a good way to give back to the hip-hop community if I'm gonna drop music on Bun B Day. And, so, I came up with the idea of only having young artists from the next generation. ... I wanted to put them on the album and show that I'm embracing the next generation of MCs that are coming up in this industry right now."
A trill brunch
As far as festivities go, the man has gone all out. On Saturday, there will be a "Trill Brunch," from 11 am to 3 pm at Chris Shepherd's One Fifth Gulf Coast. Bun will join forces with Chef Roble Ali for this gathering, which will also raise funds for mental health awareness.
"This comes from the heart of my wife," says Bun, who has just recently collaborated with Antone's Famous Po' Boys for a sandwich that also benefits Second Servings of Houston. "My wife is very adamant about mental health awareness right now, and she thought that we should bring light to that situation. Because, in our community, we don't really talk about mental health. It's really a taboo subject in the African-American community, and I wanna help break down that wall and make this a conversation that we can start having on a larger scale and start getting people the help that they need."
Trill roller skating (!)
Other events going on this weekend include a skate party (known as "Trill Rolling") at Just Rolling Skating Rink on Saturday night, and an evening of UGK karaoke at Warehouse Live on Sunday night.
Bun and the Astros
But the big day for Bun will be a few days later, on Thursday, September 5.
Continue on CultureMap to read about the special-edition Astros hats Bun helped design.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
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