Only a few might recognize Jay-Z’s reference to UGK in “99 Problems” but Bun B doesn’t seem to take any issue with that. During a recent interview on The People’s Party With Talib Kweli, Bun B reflected on Jay-Z using his bars from “Touched” on The Black Album highlight.
Kweli noted that not everyone is aware that Jay used his bars on the third verse of “99 Problems.” However, Bun B said he feels it was a way that Jay-Z showed respect to him and Pimp C.
“But I don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal. I would call it mutual respect,” he said. “We do this a lot in Hip Hop, right? Where we have artists who have said, ‘Fuck that was dope, the way he said that.’ And sometimes you wanna pay homage to that wordplay. How many songs, Kweli, have you listened to and been like, ‘I woulda rhymed that last part like this.’”
Bun went on to explain that Jay-Z ultimately put more people onto UGK’s Ridin’ Dirty hit by using his lyrics.
“I think you feel like, ‘This is a dope rhyme, I don’t think enough people heard this shit. I’m finna drop this shit in here.’ Sometimes you take a dope rhyme and make it a hook, and then people gotta go back and figure it out,” he continued. “But nah, I don’t think a lot of people know that. I don’t think it’s a big deal that they don’t know or a big deal if they do.”
Check out the clip below.
Did you know about this JAY-Z & Bun B connection? https://t.co/FoC4kyecyo
????: @uproxx pic.twitter.com/YzgE9tlfI8
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) January 17, 2023
[via]
