How do you value the Internet as a business opportunity?

Bun B: I feel it’s promotion and marketing more than anything. There’s only so many ways that people can actually make money off the Internet. For me, it’s just a way to connect with people, and letting them know where I’m going to be at physically, so if I’m in that area they can come and see me physically, and watch the show or communicate. Really to me it’s more help than anything, the only people who get rich off the Internet are people who specialize in advertising other people’s stuff. Yahoo, Google, and people like that who help facilitate what they need. It’s killing the newspapers; it’s killing television, as we know it, so we’ll see what happens.

You’ve been a supporter of ringtone rappers. What do you think they bring to the game?

Bun B: I’ve stood up for them because I don’t really understand the mentality that goes into hating on that. I see a lot of people and they’re upset with this and they’re upset with that, but how long do you think that a person you like can be the shit? Life changes, shit evolves. The shit that you liked when you were 16-you’re 30-something right now. There’s another new age of 16-year-olds, and you can’t expect them to like the same thing you like. Our parent’s didn’t like what we liked, and we were listening to N.W.A and Poor Righteous Teachers. They thought that was “noise.” There’s always going to be some sort of disconnect between generations and you have to acknowledge that. At the end of the day, if you’re over 30 you’re not supposed to get Soulja Boy because he doesn’t make music for you. That’ll be like me sitting around and saying I can’t stand Pavarotti, or fuck Andrea Bocelli, because I don’t listen to contemporary music of that nature. If it’s not your world, then tune it out. The more time you spend criticizing something that you don’t like or hate is the less time you’ll have to show love to the things you do appreciate.

In this stage of your career is it more about re-inventing yourself of giving more the type of music that people have responded to in the past?

Bun B: The reason UGK’s legacy has lasted as long as it has is because we’re a constant in a world that’s ever-changing. People know exactly what they’re going to get when they fuck with UGK, Bun B, or Pimp C. It’s comforting to people to know that-“You know, this is different, I’m not crazy about that, I don’t know about this or that, so I’m going to just fuck with this because I know what this is.” And that’s what UGK has been for people.

What projects were you and Pimp working on before he passed?

Bun B: He was working on his solo album, he had his UGK records team he was about to put together with different artists. I think Pimp’s management was saying that he had a reality deal on the table, a cologne deal on the table, he had a lot of things he was about to venture into.

What part of your daily life does his passing affect the most?

Bun B: I think the little things. When I see families, a mother and father with their kids. Or when I walk down-like right now we’re close to the jewelry district, I walk past that and I know Pimp would’ve love all the different jewelry. New cars are about to come out, just the little things that I know personally that he loved. Also watching his little girl grow up. He was going to be excited about taking her to proms and homecoming and stuff like that. That’s the thing I really hate, that he didn’t get to experience that with his children.

People say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Does that hold true for you when dealing with Pimp’s death?

Bun B: Yeah, absolutely. I think to me it’s more about what doesn’t kill you makes you realize how strong you are. The family, the friends, and everybody closely associated thought that we’d be weak forever when this happened. None of us knew if we’d be 100 percent again. The reality is, we may never be 100 percent again, but the 85 percent we move with today or the 90 percent we move with tomorrow is a lot stronger than most people on their best days. We’ve got each other, we’ve got God, and we’ll be ok.

Do ever think of what you could’ve done to address Pimp’s syrup habit?

Bun B: Not really, I can’t really say Pimp had a habit like that. I know people who sip way more syrup than Pimp C. At the end of the day, any physician will tell you sleep apnea was a lot more detrimental to bringing him to death. If he hadn’t had sleep apnea and was just sipping syrup he probably could’ve lived forever. But having sleep apnea and not sipping syrup, he still could’ve died. Reggie White died from sleep apnea, there’s a lot of different people that passed away from it. It’s just a matter of respecting the time you have with everyone else in your life more than anything. Home // CELEBRITIES // WEB EXCLUSIVE // Bun B