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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Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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