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With the West and the East Coast monopolizing the hip hop market, there was little discussion of the Dirty South holding it down when it came to the rap game. The limelight did not begin to shift to the South until the release of Outkast’s debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik , and even still many denied the South. Before the Atliens there was U.G.K. (Underground Kingz—Bun B and Pimp C) who had already been putting it down for Port Arthur, Texas and the South for a number of years. Personally, it took one listen to classic album Ridin Dirty to convince me. Their combination of suave pimp talk, laid back third coast slang, country twang, and raw narration of ghetto life threw some pot holes in the game, and even had—self-proclaimed king of New York—Jay-Z showing love, giving the Underground Kingz a feature on highly successful track “Big Pimpin.” With this track vaulting Bun B and Pimp C’s name to the mainstream, one would imagine their next album would be wildly successful. It was not, and the future found Underground King, Pimp C incarcerated. Bun B hit the mixtape circuit hard, along with an abundance of features on popular artists’ tracks, but with Pimp C locked up fans wondered would Bun B remain stagnant until Pimp C was freed. Bun B answered with Trill his forthcoming solo album.

Bun B ushers his vault for southern kingship with “The Inauguration.” Militant drums, patriotic horns, and a heavy bassline are paired with a sped up Bun B to open this album letting other southern rappers know that the ambassador of all that is trill is here to claim what is properly his: the throne below the Mason Dixon Line. The parade of features begins on “Get Throwed” with Pimp C, Z-Ro, Young Jeezy, and the big homey, Jay-Z.