Source: @alivecoverage / @alivecoverage
The South By Southwest festival is always a place to get enlightenment from some of the best in various fields, and one great example from this year’s edition was found in Texas’ own Bun B being part of a special pop-up event.
The veteran MC and one-half of the iconic duo UGK took part in the Earn Your Masters keynote conversation at the festival in Austin, Texas on Thursday (March 18th). The event, held at Mala Vida, was presented by the hosts of the Earn Your Leisure podcast, Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal in conjunction with UnitedMasters, the creative coalition founded by music industry legend Steve Stoute as a platform for independent artists to fully take command of their artistic journey from owning their recording masters to having access to premium music distribution services among other features. The pop-up was also sponsored by Ally.
In the conversation that ranged in topics from the culture of Hip-Hop to religion to blockchain technology, the businessman and Port Arthur native spoke candidly about his journey. “Once I made the decision to go into the music business, and when I say the music business, I’m not talking about making music, playing music outside — I’m talking about taking control of the business that I’m in, finding ways to take the music industry and the companies out of my equation. How much of this can we honestly do on our own?”, he said. “How much of this record label do we really need? How many of these things can we sufficiently and consistently execute ourselves at a high level, and as time went by, we realized we could do it all.”
Bun B also spoke to the value of Hip-Hop as a wellspring of information and opportunity, if recognized and utilized properly. “Hip Hop, like religion, is where many of our young people go to get their information. It’s the space in which they commune and gather, and learn and live with each other.”, he said. The talk was a highlight of the day, followed up the rapper taking the stage as a performer. He was joined by the phenomenal artist out of Houston, Tobe Nigiwe as well as BigX The Plug, OG Ron C, and Chase B.
Source: @alivecoverage / @alivecoverage
Source: @alivecoverage / @alivecoverage
Source: @alivecoverage / @alivecoverage
Tagged: Bun B, entertainment blog, music blog, Newsletter, SXSW