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Some people are simply destined for greatness, and Texas native Bernard James Freeman, known to the culture as Bun B, may be considered one of them.
As one of the founder members of the rap group UGK, Bun B has had a knack for storytelling for as long as he can remember. Today, his portfolio expands far beyond the title of musician. He wears many hats, including professor (he teaches a course on music and religion at Rice University), rapper, father, husband, and entrepreneur, to name a few.
For him, the key to his success is his determination and preparation in any situation. As he was climbing the ranks in music, he credits a brutal rap battle beatdown as the reason he always showed up prepared.
“I made it a note that nobody would ever be more prepared to rap in a room than I would be,” Bun B told Blavity co-founder and COO Jeff Nelson during an exclusive fireside chat at the AFROTECH™ Conference 2024 on Nov. 15. In the conversation, titled “Beyond Beats with Bun B: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Hip Hop, he said, “We eventually began the careers of UGK, and I made that part of the model, that anytime I need to be in the room with other rappers, nobody’s ever going to be a better rapper than me.”
While his path to success in the food industry with Trill Burgers has been swift, he says that his entryway into life as an entrepreneur was unique.
“Every business has struggles, but I must be honest and transparent. We had an obvious path to success with the company in terms of getting people in the door,” Bun B said. “Because with a small business, typically, the hardest part is to get people to enter the door of the building. We took the cultural influence and integrity I had built personally as a recording artist over the last 30 years and the trust factor that comes with that.”
His approach to his beloved Trill Burgers was similar to his work as a businessman in the music industry. Bun B quickly realized that a clear path to success was to use his influence and create a quality product that he knew people would at least come out to try, just off of the strength of his reputation. More importantly, the burgers had to be good to keep them coming back, so before launching a brick-and-mortar, the “Heaven” emcee tested out various markets by way of music festivals and various pop-ups.
When the restaurant won best burger in America in 2022 by “Good Morning America,” Bun B said it solidified his and the team’s presence in the space.
“Whenever I was releasing albums, and they were jamming, people believed it and went out and bought them. Whenever I said I was going to do a concert, people believed it and went out and bought tickets,” he explained. “They made financial investments, and I would present them with a product that would be worth the money, or entertainment that would be worth the money. When we decided to do the burger and had the idea, I had classically trained chefs who created and presented the burger to me. I had a business partner with years of experience in the food industry. I had another business partner who was in the branding and marketing field. So, I had a lot of different moving parts around me to help make this company successful.”
He added, “It was my job primarily to get people in the door, but I was not going to compromise my integrity for a couple of dollars behind a hamburger. I needed to make sure that this was a very pure product and had, you know, real, real capability of growing into something, even if we only did one brick-and-mortar. We could build something strong and create an experience people would appreciate.”
When it’s all said and done, Bun B aims to continue to take Trill Burgers to higher heights. However, as a man of faith, he says that he is simply waiting for God to reveal to him, ultimately, hopefully, that he is in a position to create a different level of wealth than his bloodline has seen before.
“I’ve been given this company as a reason,” he said. “There’s a reason God chose me for this. There was no ‘I want to make a hamburger.’ This was given to me. I was presented with this opportunity to be a part of it, but I could see what this company could be from a mile away, from the beginning. That’s why I put so much time and effort into helping build and scale this company.”
Bun B concluded, “I was starting to become very aware that I was not given this company just to be successful and just cash out like that. If there is to be this great success that comes with this company, I believe it can create generational wealth, not just for my family, but for my business partners as well.”
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