Bun B/Ebony Eyez/The Allstars

Sunday, December 18; The Arena (formerly the Limelight, 9973 Lewis & Clark Boulevard, north St. Louis County)

Dec 14, 2005 at 4:00 am
Way before Underground Kingz members Bun B and Pimp C gained mainstream notoriety courtesy of a cameo appearance on Jay-Z's smash hit "Big Pimpin,'" the UGK were, well, underground kings. The Port Arthur, Texas, natives recorded three successful "underground" (Jive-distributed) albums in the 1990s, Too Hard To Swallow, Supertight.... and Ridin' Dirty, which enabled them to enlist a legion of hardcore-rap fanatics toward their Dirty South musical movement. On the strength of that underground success, Jay-Z came calling in 1999 ("Big Pimpin'" was released as a single in September 2000), and if not for Pimp C's then-looming prison stint for a parole violation, UGK would have probably taken their perch as one of the top tag-team rap units of all time by now. St. Louis rap diva Ebony Eyez and hip-hop collective The Allstars join Bun B for this show.