With over 20 years in the hip-hop industry, Bernard “Bun B” Freeman along with his other half, Chad “Pimp C” Butler managed to release nine UGK albums, collaborated with countless legendary artists and earned the undeniable title of being one of southern hip-hop’s most prestigious duos.

After the 2007 death of Pimp C, Bun B had to stay committed, dedicated and focused on the carrying on the Underground Kingz legacy. With a follow-up album II Trill, set for release later on this year and a promised UGK album underway, the Port Arthur, Texas native is gearing up to give back to the underground. Long live Pimp C.

You were hurt by the death of your other half, Pimp C. In homage of UGK, what are you doing to make sure that Pimp C’s contributions in hip-hop will not be overlooked?

I try to make sure that the legacy is made with respect and honor. I make sure that I mention his name in songs, in different interviews and definitely try to keep the name alive. We’re going to be doing a lot of things in homage of the UGK legacy over the course of the next couple of years. It won’t be hard to do it at all, because a lot of the fans, the rap community and the hip-hop community, all have a lot of love for Pimp C.

Since the beginning of the UGK experience, you two always reflected the “underground” scene in Texas, the unheard voice and the man who was not represented in mainstream America. Do you think UGK is still a reflection of that notion?

I think so, because we still relate to the streets and the struggle. Definitely, we are still part of the struggle. A lot of people look at this success and rate this success with us and people see how far they can go in life by how far we go in life and they keen themselves to that. We know that there are a lot of people who look for us to get out here and break barriers, still hope and to still run. There are a lot of people from the ’hood who don’t have those opportunities to be and we have to make sure that we do that and not be lazy.

Let’s talk about your involvement in the 2008 presidential election. You recently did a remix track with Kidz In the Hall and Talib Kweli, “Work To Do,” in support of the Obama campaign. What was your inspiration for becoming involved with the project?

It’s installing a lot of hope in people who haven’t felt that from a presidential candidate in a long time. There are a lot of disenfranchised people out there who want to get involved and who want to do a lot of things, but really don’t feel like they have seen or heard anybody in a while who they feel can do something or at least make them feel like they can do something or be something. I think Barack represents that for a lot of people and Hillary as well. This is coming from a generation and a community that I directly represent, as well as I’m affiliated with. I think Barack Obama himself and what he represents is something that should have 100 percent support.

In a land of grills, gold and drugs, money and women, as a hip-hop veteran, what is most important to you?

Really just the truth, you know what I’m saying? People always want to show what’s good about everything—and it’s alright to party—but we always got to keep it real with people and show them that everything ain’t always good all the time. It’s ignorant for anybody to always portray that. Everybody has their individual trails and tribulations and as much as you can try to relay that, people will understand you more—not just an artist but as a person.

What can we expect from the new album, II Trilla?

Really just getting back to the basic ’hood politics, because a lot of people are in violation of a lot of different things that they shouldn’t be doing in the ’hood and putting it in the name of the ’hood. We’re trying to take the ’hood back. We have production from people like Mister Lee, Jazzy Pha, Clinton Sparks, Travis Barker and a lot of up-and-coming producers.

Is there anything that’s on your mind or anything else you might want to say? Here’s your opportunity.

I think if you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the war, there are so many other things we can be doing in our communities and educating and informing our communities. We need more AIDS research and AIDS awareness and we need more literacy programs for the kids and for the adults. UGK for life and long live Pimp C.