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With II Trill Bun B's ensured the legacy of U.G.K. will exist for decades to come, but more importantly he's created the album that every hip-hop head from North to South with have rattling out of their trunk all summer long.
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II Trill but never too trill, the second solo swagger from UGKer Bun B spins triumphant, Houston hip-hop ripped both in celebration of properly executed gangster prophecies and passed partner-in-slang Pimp C.
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Bun B's second solo record is an impressive late-career triumph, one with a poignancy and resonance worthy of his dedication and devotion to the memory of his departed friend.
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If there was ever any doubt that the prolific MC could make it on his own, this disc stands as a firm "fuck you."
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On the Jodeci-sampled 'You're Everything,' Bun B rhymes about his love for his hometown of Houston, while poverty, politics and spirituality dominate the reflective 'If It Was Up to Me.' But the most heartfelt track on the album is the one dedicated to Pimp C, 'Angel in the Sky.'
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His second solo album (which he dedicates to Pimp C, his partner in the pioneering Houston rap duo UGK who died of a codeine overdose last December) features blunts, ho's and Caddy-shaking beats galore--but also elegantly constructed takedowns of corrupt politicians, covetous ministers and crooked police.
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The tracks on II Trill are brawnier and slicker than before. The minor chords are pumped up with reverb and orchestral heft (though the horns and strings are synthesized), and the songs are full of pop vocal melodies, like the Jamaican singer Sean Kingston’s harmony choruses in 'That’s Gangsta.'
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II Trill draws its cohesion from its production, a stew of juicy grooves, synth patches, and gumbo-thick basslines. But what makes the album tick is an emotional complexity: Like an old sage, Bun B gracefully vacillates between raw fury and weathered wisdom.
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II Trill, is psychologically up-market, with genuinely well-appointed guest spots (that Webbie and Lupe Fiasco both sound comfortable on the same album speaks volumes) and hungry young producers offering their best tricks.
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The album is dark and menacing, and also better than the first "Trill," even if Bun doesn't threaten to slap anyone in the face with a pie a la mode.
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II Trill is obviously not Bun B’s defining musical statement; UGK has way too many classics in the bank for that. What it is, though, is a consistently great rap album by a consistently great emcee.
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The WireThe beats are tighter, the rhymes sharper and the subject matter more relevant. [July 2008, p.66]
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II Trill is a solid and occasionally great record, an album more directed toward car-stereo utility than bedroom contemplation.
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The record attempts nothing: it doesn’t stretch or break a sweat but celebrates its easy victory ecstatically, like some asshole Olympic sprinter racing against a middle school track team.
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This time out, he's a single short and couple songs too long, but his back is strong enough to carry the weight, proving once again he's one of the Dirty South's most reliable voices.
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Bun combines swagger with substance without losing a step. [June 2008, p.104]
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Q MagazineUnsurprisingly, the atmosphere is often weigted with doom, though there's an intoxicating impetus to the tar-like bass and woozy funk. [Aug 2008, p.140]
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