O’Donis. When I got the beat, it was jamming, but I couldn’t come up with nothing. She started freestyling and some of the things she said got me going. Next thing I knew the flame was sparked and I wound up laying down two verses to the song.
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thei Tracey and with his wife E-40 (right) ) ay (Photo: D-R
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experience those things with someone I can talk about it with 10-15 years from now.
E-40:
I just try to take her to the right shit. When I perform, I perform in some of the grittiest clubs, and the nicest arenas. I don’t want to put her in harm’s way, because we all know, this is rap music. I don’t look for trouble, but trouble can find you sometimes. I try to keep her out of the clubs, but I take her to the arenas and the nice clubs. I just try to make the best decisions so I can make sure somebody is there for my kids if something ever happens to me. If I’m on the road for 2 weeks, I’m going to fly her out, or have her on the bus with me. Or I’ll fly home on in-between down days when nothing’s going on.
Have female friends, groupies or just too many women being around ever been an issue in your relationship? Bun B:
I don’t play when it comes to respect when my wife is concerned. For a while I would tell people to just keep all women away from me. But my wife said I can’t do that because a lot of women are fans of mine. She told me I had to learn the differences between a groupie and a fan. She said, “A groupie wants to hold you and fan wants to hug you.” She said I can’t penalize fans for what groupies do. But we’ve only had 3 instances in 12 years when somebody disrespected.
Paul Wall:
Paul Wall:
She comes with me a lot. She brings the kids too. Family is a big part of my life. Being away makes it hard for me. Any tour I go on, she won’t be there the whole time, but she’ll be there for portions of it.
Not really. Even when it comes to girls in the video, she makes friends with them. Or she might pull me to the side and say, “She’s ugly. Take her out of the video.” It’s funny how she be on the set doing that. But all the women usually flock to her. Even when we in the clubs, the women always go to her. They don’t even be worrying about me. Based on what I have seen though, a lot of people like to be messy. I’m honest and faithful to my wife. If I wasn’t faithful that would be a problem. I think being faithful is a big part of the success of our relationship.
What would you say is one of the best decisions your wife helped you make? Bun B:
DO you think marriage will ever become more acceptable to rap about? E-40:
If you ask her, she’ll probably say everything. (laughs) But the best decision my wife helped me make was just her being by my side. Especially when I was going through a lot of things with Pimp C being locked up. That was a lot to go through financially, spiritually and personally. She never gave up on me. I was under the impression that UGK would fall apart when Pimp got locked up; a lot of us were. I fell into a very dark place and did a lot of drinking. I wanted to sit back and feel sorry for myself. That was the turning point in my career. From that point on when I decided to not let that situation beat me and defeat me, my career took off musically and we achieved financial prosperity that we have never achieved before.
E-40:
Just being there. She ain’t know what I was gonna be. All I did was write raps, but she never knocked me. My brothers always tell me that. She never knew what I was gonna be, but she was always there.
Paul Wall:
I can’t think of anything specific, but I know it’s been a few occasions though. Sometimes when I get writer’s block I’ll ask her for help. Like this one time when I was doing a song for Colby
wives now. I guess people are protective of their personal lives.
Bun B:
People tend to not focus on marriage and family in Hip Hop. Male artists who have a lot of female fans have images to uphold. When they say they’re married, that kinda puts a block between them and the fan. You still want them to scream for you. But that’s just not in Hip Hop, that’s the entertainment industry period. Look at how Usher’s career was affected. Women didn’t feel they could have him anymore.
Do any of you have advice for other rappers thinking about getting married, or even rappers who are married and might not be enjoying it? E-40:
If you find a good one, you probably want to stick with her. It’s not about glamour. You want somebody who’s gonna be there for you. Everybody’s got a main squeeze. If you find a good woman and she’s in your heart, stick with her. Don’t get caught up in all this industry shit, man. Find a down to earth female. Different strokes for different folks, but my advice is if you find a good one keep her.
Bun B:
I get calls from younger rappers making the transition. I’ve talked to Wale, Dizzie Rascal and I talk to ESG and Paul Wall on the regular. All I have to tell you is don’t do it unless you are sure. Don’t get married out of convenience, that’s the last thing you want to do. There’s nothing worse than being an unsure married person.
Paul Wall:
Keeping your faith in God is a big part of it. I would encourage people not to do it if you’re not ready. Some people do it too soon, and some wait too long. If you think it’s meant to be, do it. But the biggest part of it is being faithful. If you are unfaithful, it makes it hard and it makes [your spouse] very insecure. //
This game is like making movies, but people take music literally. When you rap about something, people say you ain’t doing that. Me personally, I make songs about my wife. I just did a song called “All I Need.” If you came in the game real mannish, people want to see you stay Words by that way lyrically. I’ve got a Maurice G. Garland young and old audience so I have to mix it up. At the end Bun B, his w of my day I go home to my ife (Photo: Kead Queen, and their kids Br eneshia & Br ron Smith) wife. Now I’ve said some slick andon a.k.a. Young B crazy shit in my songs, but my wife knows that I come home to her. She knows this is just my occupation.
Paul Wall:
It’s entertainment, so I don’t know. It’s like a secret society. Once I got married, I started noticing that a lot of other people in the industry were married too. Before I was married, I didn’t know that a lot of my friends were married. They introduce me to their
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